BREAKING: Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal Begins Pre-Hearing in Abuja
By Alabidun Shuaib AbdulRahman, Abuja
The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal, which is sitting at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, has commenced pre-hearing proceedings for petitions challenging the Independent National Electoral Commission’s declaration of Bola Tinubu as the winner of the 2023 presidential election.
Justice Haruna Tsammani is presiding over the five-man panel, which includes Justice Stephen Adah, Justice Misitura Bolaji-Yusuf, Justice Boloukuoromo Moses Ugo, and Justice Abbah Mohammed.
Today, the panel will address three petitions: the Action Alliance (AA) and INEC, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Hamza Al Mustapha, and the Action People’s Party (APP) vs. Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC and INEC.
The last petition is Peter Obi and the Labour Party’s (LP) CA/PEPC/03/2023 vs. INEC, Tinubu, Kashim Shetima, and APC.
Justice Tsammani has assured that the panel will treat all petitions fairly and efficiently.
In one of the petitions filed by Peter Obi’s legal team, they are seeking “Applications for subpoena, objections, enforcement of order of court not obeyed by INEC, and other applications arising in the course of the hearing.”
Obi is contesting the election’s outcome, alleging irregularities, including non-compliance with the electoral Act.
Chris Uche, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), leads Atiku’s legal team, Wole Olanipekun is the head of Tinubu’s legal team, and Levi Uzoukwu heads Obi’s team.
The senior advocates stressed that these petitions have garnered a lot of public interest and will have an impact on Nigerians.
