Presidential poll: Tribunal affirms Tinubu’s Presidency

… Dismisses Atiku, Obi, APM’s petitions

*We are appealing the judgement – Atiku

By Vivian Okejeme Abuja

The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) has affirmed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the authentic winner of the February 25 presidential election.

The five-man panel led by Justice Haruna Tsamani unanimously held that the petitions filed the the Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party LP and the Allied People Movement APM, lacks merit.

Meanwhile, Atiku has through his counsel, Chief Cris Uche hinted that they have the right to appeal the judgement and asked the court to avail them the necessary judgement materials.

Giving the verdict, the court held that the Petitioners failed to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt that the presidential election was married by malpractice and irregularities.

Consequently, the court held that the return of Ahmed Bola Tinubu as elected president by the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC.

“The petitioners have not successfully proved their case, I hereby dismiss it for lacking in merit and resolves all the four issues againstbthe petitioners”, he said

Earlier, Atiku, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate’s had his petition struck out.

He had relied on several paragraphs of the petition to push Tinubu out of office.

In the same vein, some exhibits including witnesses statements he tendered to establish his allegations of irregularities, malpractices against the February 25 presidential election in the ensuing legal battle were also rejected and discontenanced by the Tribunal.

Delivering ruling in some objections argued by Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN on behalf of Tinubu, Justice Moses Ugoh held that several parts of Atiku’s petition have no legs upon which they can stand and survive, hence, not competent.

Like the fate that befell his counterpart in the Labour Party’s Peter Obi, the Court said several facts fundamentally required to support the petition were not provided by Atiku.

Among others, Atiku was said to have failed and neglected to name places where ballot boxes were snatched, the ways and manners the BVAS machine were manipulated and names of polling boots where alleged malpractices took place.

The petitioner who claimed to have polled majority of lawful votes was said to have failed to state in clear terms, the total lawful votes he claimed to have scored.

The Court held that Atiku alleged that Tinubu did not score majority of lawful votes but refused to make the perceived lawful votes known in his petition to the Tribunal.

Similarly, the Tribunal said that the former Vice President made grievous allegations against Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello and Chairman of Olamaboro Local Government of Kogi, Friday Adejoh but neglected to join them as respondents in the petition.

Justice Ugoh held that failure to join the governor who was accused of electoral fraud was fatal to the petition because the governor was denied opportunity to defend himself as required by law.

The Tribunal dismissed the the allegations of over voting all over Nigeria by the petitioner adding that such pleadings run foul of the law because the specific places where the alleged over voting took place were not mentioned.

Atiku’s petition was also faulted on the ground that it introduced several facts and allegations in unlawful ways that caught the respondents unaware adding that the tactic employed was unfair and and made him clever by half.

Among the offending new facts said to have been wrongfully introduced by Atiku were the allegations of criminal conviction, certificate forgery, dual citizenship of Guinea made against Tinubu outside the mode of filing petition.

Justice Stephen Jonah Adah who read another ruling on objections against the petition expunged several documents tendered by Atiku on the ground that the exhibits were made during the pendency of the petition.

Also the evidence of several key witnesses of Atiku were expunged from the Court record having been made in manners not known to law.

The Tribunal held that the wrongful mode adopted by the PDP’s presidential candidate in the construction of the petition made several paragraphs of the petition iable for striking out for want of merit.