BREAKING: Supreme Court affirms Tinubu’s election, dismisses entirety of Atiku and Obi’s appeals
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Atiku Abubakar’s grounds of appeal against the election of President Bola Tinubu have been dismissed by the Supreme Court, in the lead judgment delivered today by Justice John Okoro and concurred to by the six other Justices on the panel.
The Justices dismissed for lacking merit, all the grounds of appeal by Atiku, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and those of Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP).
And they all upheld Tinubu’s election as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on February 25 and affirmed by the Appeal Court on September 6.
The Supreme Court simply adopted the position of the Appeal Court which constitution the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC).
The deposition and other documents from Chicago State University (CSU) presented by Atiku had been rejected earlier in the morning by the Justices on grounds they could not by law be adduced at this stage of the proceedings.
Okoro declared that even if the CSU documents had been admitted by the Supreme Court they would not have been considered in the judgment.
The top court agreed with the judgment of the PEPC that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja does not occupy any special electoral status, and the Constitution does not anticipate that a presidential candidate must score 25 per cent of votes cast in the FCT to be elected.
It also dismissed, among others:
- The issue of Tinubu’s dual citizenship with Guinea, saying it was brought up at the Appeal Court when his lawyers did not have enough time to properly respond to it.
- Live electronic transmission of election result from polling units to INEC portal is an option, not compulsory by law, as of the date of the presidential election.
The Justices agreed with the respondents’ lawyers that there was no merit in the appeals by Atiku and Obi and they were thereby dismissed.
In effect, just as the Appeal Court did on September 6, the Supreme Court did not admit or examine the truth or otherwise of the evidence of Tinubu’s dual citizenship or certificate forgery – either of which, if proven, would have necessitated his sack as President.
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BREAKING: Supreme Court rejects CSU documents in Atiku’s appeal against Tinubu’s election
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Evidence in Tinubu’s Chicago papers not statute barred, Atiku tells Supreme Court
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