the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal has affirmed the election of President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
This ruling follows the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, challenging the outcome of the February 25, 2023 presidential election.
The central question before the tribunal was whether the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was correct in declaring Bola Tinubu as the duly elected president based on the majority of lawful votes cast.
After a thorough examination of the evidence and arguments presented by the petitioners, the tribunal concluded that the PDP and Atiku Abubakar had not successfully proven their allegations against this ground or any other grounds in their petition.
Justice Haruna Tsammani, the leader of the five-man panel, announced the tribunal’s decision, stating, “This petition accordingly lacks merit. I affirm the return of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the duly elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The parties are to bear their cost.”
In addition to upholding President Tinubu’s victory, the tribunal also took action regarding the exhibits tendered by witnesses during the proceedings.
Specifically, the court expunged 37 exhibits from its records. The tribunal’s decision on this matter emphasized that the issue of dumping documents on the court would impact the weight attributed to such evidence.
Furthermore, the tribunal addressed the issues surrounding Tinubu’s alleged conviction and the matter of his dual citizenship.
It held that these issues were incompetent and, as previously determined, liable to be struck out. Accordingly, they were indeed struck out from consideration.
