Ahead of the May 29 inauguration, the Supreme Court will Friday decide whether to nullify the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its presidential candidate in the February 25 election, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, over alleged double nomination.
The apex court announced this Monday following the appeal by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) shortly after taking submissions from the counsel representing parties in the suit.
Specifically, the PDP is seeking the disqualification of the President-elect, Tinubu and Vice-President-elect Senator Kashim Shettima, over alleged double nomination, an act it said violates the electoral laws.
The appellant anchored its appeal on the claims that the appellate court erred in law when it dismissed its appeal and affirmed the judgment of a trial court which held that the suit was incompetent and lacking in merit.
PDP is claiming that the APC breached the law when it nominated Shettima as the senatorial candidate for Borno Central and as vice-presidential candidate.
At Monday’s proceedings, while APC’s lawyer, Mr Babatunde Ogala, SAN, asked the court to strike out the case on the grounds that it has become statute barred, because the 180 days stipulated by law to hear the suit had elapsed, PDP’s lawyer, Mr Joe Agi, SAN, disagreed.
It is Agi’s position that the issue of 180 days does not apply to double nomination, adding that since the act is purely an illegality; the court has the right to entertain the appeal.
“They have done that before, they did it in the case of Nwosu and APC and they will do it again,” Agi added.
The appellant, accordingly, urged the apex court to grant the appeal, set aside the concurrent decision of the two lower courts and nullify the election of Tinubu and the vice-president-elect for alleged double nomination.
The appeal
The PDP had by their appeal marked: CA/ABJ/CV/108/2023, urged the appellate court to reverse the January 13 judgment by Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja which dismissed its suit on the grounds that the PDP lacked the locus standi to have instituted the suit.
The three-member panel of justices of the Court of Appeal, in the lead judgment, held that the PDP failed to establish its locus standi in the case.
Justice James Abundaga, who delivered the judgment of the appellate court, had agreed with the respondents that the PDP is a busy body, who dabbled into issues that are internal affairs of the APC.
“The appellant, having failed to disclose its locus standi, this appeal fails and it is hereby dismissed,” he said and proceeded to affirm the judgment of the Federal High Court.
Justice Abundaga awarded N5 million cost against the appellant’s lawyer, J. O. Olotu.
The PDP had, in the suit filed on July 28, 2022, challenged the validity of the Tinubu/Shettima ticket for the 2023 presidential election, arguing that Shettima’s nomination as the running mate was in breach of the provisions of Sections 29(1), 33, 35 and (8491)(2) of the Electoral Act, 2022 (as amended).
Tinubu, APC oppose Atiku, Obi’s petition
in a related development, President-elect Tinubu and the APC Monday rejected the proposal to consolidate the three surviving petitions challenging the outcome of the February 25 presidential election at the Presidential Election Petition Court.
Tinubu and the APC, who are respondents in all the cases, insisted that merging all the petitions would adversely affect their ability to effectively defend all the issues the petitioners raised against their election victory.
The duo asked the PEPC, sitting in Abuja, to hear and determine the three petitions, separately.
However, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has said it was in support of the proposal to consolidate all the petitions.
The commission, through its lawyer, Mr. Kemi Pinhero, SAN, said it would leave the issue to the discretion of the court.
Likewise, the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Abubakar, who came second in the election, threw his weight behind the planned merger of the petitions by the court.
In his argument, Counsel for the APC, Charles Edosomwam, SAN, stated that consolidating the petitions would be against the interest of justice.
He said the justice factor is a major issue for consideration, adding that “the grounds are different and the wide range of issues raised by parties are also different.
“Major issues before this court will be lost like a pin in a haystack” if the consolidation is considered.
“Moreover, it will be pragmatically impossible for the respondent to effectively defend the case.”
Meanwhile, the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) said it would call one witness to testify in its petition at the PEPC.
The party said it would call only one witness and would need three days for the witness to testify.
Reporting to the court on the agreed streamlining of witnesses, counsel to APM, Mr. Shehu Abubakar, said the star witness would take 20 minutes to give the evidence-in-chief while cross-examination would be for 25 minutes and re-examination would be done in five minutes.
Abubakar said the documents that would be relied on by each party had been exchanged between the parties.
