The Allied Peoples Movement, APM, one of the parties opposing the election of President Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday, closed its case after its lone witness appeared before the Presidential Election Petition Court, (PEPC), sitting in Abuja.
The witness, Aisha Abubakar, who identified herself as the Assistant Welfare Director of the party, tendered seven pieces of documentary evidence before the court to establish their case that Tinubu was not qualified to participate in the 2023 presidential election.
Remarkably, all the Respondents in the matter did not oppose the admissibility of the documents, which Justice HarunaTsammani-let’s five-member panel accordingly admitted in evidence and marked as exhibits.
Cited as Respondents in the matter are the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, President Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, the All Progressives Congress, APC, and Ibrahim Masari.
It will be recalled that APM had earlier declined to withdraw its petition against President Tinubu’s election.
The court had on May 30, suspended further proceedings in the matter after counsel to President Tinubu, Wole Olanipekun, SAN, drew its attention to a judgment of the Supreme Court which he said settled the issue the APM raised in its petition.
Olanipekun, SAN, maintained that an appeal the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, filed against his client, which was dismissed by the Supreme Court, bordered on the legality or otherwise of his client’s nomination to contest the election by the APC.
He argued that the said judgment of the apex court touched on the substance of APM’s petition.
Tinubu’s lawyer stressed that the only ground the APM canvassed in its petition, was the fact that the Vice President, Shettima, had double nominations, before the presidential election that was held on February 25.
Insisting that the issue had since been settled by the Supreme Court, Tinubu’s lead counsel, said: “As officers of this court, it behooves us to assist the court in all circumstances and also bring to the attention of your lordships, decisions of courts, even from other jurisdictions, which relate to any matter pending before your lordships.
“Even if those decisions do not necessarily align with the interest of our clients. It becomes more imperative if we are aware or abreast of any decision of the Supreme Court that touches on matters within the proceedings before your lordships.
“In this wise my lords, this particular petition which has just been called in respect of which the sole issue that is being ventilated is the nomination of the 1st Respondent who we represent.
“We are aware that the Supreme Court gave a judgment on the issue on Friday, May 23, in respect of appeal No: SC/CV/501/2023, and the parties involved were PDP Vs INEC& 3 Ors, where the apex court considered all the issues and resolved them.
“We will confirm from the petitioners, whether in the light of the Supreme Court decision, there will still be the need to continue with this petition,” he added.
Meanwhile, despite the said decision of the apex court, the petitioner, through its lawyer, Gideon Idiagbonya, said it was ready to pursue its case against Tinubu to its logical conclusion.
Consequently, at the resumed proceedings on Wednesday, the party, tendered in evidence, exhibits it said would establish its case that Tinubu was ineligible to contest the presidential election.
Part of the exhibits the petitioner tendered in evidence through the witness, included documents on Masari’s withdrawal as Tinubu’s running mate for the election.
However, before the witness could exit the box, APC’s lead counsel, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, tendered through her, a copy of the Supreme Court judgment which the Respondents said had earlier settled the issue the APM raised in the petition.
Likewise, INEC’s lawyer, Kemi Pinheiro, tendered before the court, a letter dated July 6, which the APC wrote to the Chairman of the Commission, Mahmoud Yakubu, notifying him of the withdrawal of Shettima’s nomination as its senatorial candidate in Borno state.
Equally admitted in evidence by the court was a letter that indicated that one Lawal Kaka Shehu, was subsequently nominated to replace Shettima as APC’s flag-bearer for the senatorial poll.
After the witness was discharged from the box, a Deputy Director at the INEC, John Arabs, who was summoned through a subpoena, produced and tendered documents in evidence, among which included the “original online form” which Shettima submitted to indicate his withdrawal from the senatorial race.
Meanwhile, the Justice Tsammani-led panel adjourned the matter till July 14 for all the parties to adopt their final briefs of argument, after which the court will fix a date to deliver its judgment.
Whereas the panel ordered the Respondents to file their final written addresses within 10 days, it said the petitioner should afterward, file its address within seven days.
Specifically, the APM, in its petition marked: CA/PEPC/04/2023, contended that the withdrawal of Masari, who was initially nominated as the Vice-Presidential candidate of the APC, invalidated Tinubu’s candidacy given Section 131(c) and 142 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
The party argued that there was a gap of about three weeks between the period that Masari, who was listed as the 5th Respondent in the petition, expressed intention to withdraw, the actual withdrawal of his purported nomination, and the time Tinubu purportedly replaced him with Senator Kashim Shettima.
It further argued that Tinubu’s candidature had elapsed at the time he nominated Shettima as Masari’s replacement.
According to the petitioner, at the time Tinubu announced Shettima as the Vice Presidential candidate, “he was no longer in a position, constitutionally, to nominate a running mate since he had ceased to be a presidential candidate of the 2nd Respondent having regards to the provisions of section 142 of the 1999 Constitution”.
More so, APM, contended that Masari’s initial nomination activated the joint ticket principle enshrined in the Constitution, stressing that his subsequent withdrawal invalidated the said joint ticket.
It, therefore, prayed the court to declare that Shettima was not qualified to contest as the Vice-Presidential candidate of the APC as of February 25 when the election was conducted by INEC having violated the provisions of Section 35 of the Electoral Act, 2022.
“An order nullifying and voiding all the votes scored by Tinubu in the presidential election given his non-qualification as a candidate of the APC”.
Likewise, an order to set aside the Certificate of Return was issued to the President by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Both President Tinubu and the APC had since filed processes to challenge the competence of the petition which they said was bereft of merit.
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