The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) in Abuja is set to announce its verdict on three petitions aimed at challenging President Bola Tinubu’s election victory.
The panel, led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, has called on all parties involved to present their final arguments.
Following the declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that Tinubu emerged victorious in the presidential election held on February 25, defeating 17 other candidates, two prominent challengers have contested the results.
Atiku Abubakar, the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) secured the second position, and Peter Obi, the flagbearer of the Labour Party (LP) in third place, have both questioned Tinubu’s eligibility to contest and claimed they actually won the election.
The challengers have raised concerns about Tinubu’s birth date, education, state of origin, and dual citizenship with Guinea, arguing that he did not obtain the majority of lawful votes.
They are requesting the revocation of his Certificate of Return and propose a fresh election excluding Tinubu, based on the contention that he was never qualified to participate.
Moreover, Atiku has raised issues concerning Tinubu’s degree certificate from Chicago State University, claiming it belongs to a woman.
Obi and the LP have also contested Tinubu’s eligibility, citing a previous indictment and fine from a US District Court for an offense involving dishonesty and drug trafficking. They have accused INEC of breaching its own regulations and guidelines.
The challengers are hopeful that Tinubu’s votes will be invalidated due to his disqualification, which could potentially lead to Obi being declared the winner, as they believe he meets all constitutional requirements.
Alternatively, they are requesting a new election in which Tinubu, his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima, and the APC would be ineligible to participate.
Out of the initial five petitions filed, the Action Alliance (AA) and the Action Peoples Party (APP) have withdrawn their cases.
However, the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) still maintains its petition, arguing that the withdrawal of Tinubu’s initial Vice-Presidential candidate invalidated his candidacy, and is awaiting judgment on this matter.
