On an unspecified future date, the Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC) will deliver its judgment on the petitions filed by Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi and the Labour Party (LP). The court’s Presiding Justice, Justice Haruna Tsammani, made this announcement after both petitioners’ and respondents’ lawyers concluded their final written addresses and last submissions.
During the morning session, the petition by Atiku and the PDP was presented, while the adoption of Obi and the LP’s petition took place in the afternoon.
The lawyers representing the respondents, including Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN) for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Wole Olanipekun (SAN) for President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettma, and Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) for the All Progressives Congress (APC), urged the court to dismiss the petitions for lacking merit. They argued that the petitioners failed to provide sufficient evidence to support their claims.
Mahmoud countered the petitioners’ claims of non-compliance with the Electoral Act and electronic collation of results, stating that INEC used manual collation and the online portal was for public access, not for collation.
Olanipekun argued that the petitioners abandoned their petitions based on their final written addresses, while Fagbemi dismissed Obi and the LP’s petition as “ambitious.” He pointed out that the issue of double nomination concerning Shettma had already been resolved by the Supreme Court.
On the other hand, Chris Uche (SAN), representing Atiku and the PDP, urged the court to uphold their petition, stating that they had presented substantial evidence to support their claims of INEC’s non-compliance.
Likewise, Livy Uzoukwu (SAN), the lawyer for Obi and the LP, called for the court to grant their petition’s reliefs, arguing that the election was manipulated, leading to the supply of blurred and unreadable result sheets by INEC.
Overall, the judgment remains pending until the court announces a date for its delivery. Atiku, Obi, and other politicians were present during the proceedings.
