APC tells tribunal Labour Party violated electoral law by fielding Obi in 2023 presidential poll

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has asked the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) to dismiss a petition filed by the Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, against the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the president-elect in the 25 February election, saying it is not only frivolous but lacks merit.

The APC, in its notice of preliminary objection to the LP’s petition filed at the court’s secretariat in Abuja on Monday night by Thomas Ojo, a member of the party’s legal team led by Lateef Fagbemi, claims Obi was not a member of the Labour Party 30 days to the conduct of the party’s presidential election primary.

The APC argued that Obi was not a member of the Labour Party as of the time of his “alleged sponsorship”, arguing that “by the mandatory provisions of Section 77 (1) (2) and (3) of the Electoral Act 2022, a political party shall maintain a register and shall make such register available to INEC not later than 30 days before the date fixed for the party primaries, congresses and convention.”

In its counter petition, the APC said Obi was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as at April 2022 and only resigned his membership from the party on May 24, 2022, to join the Labour Party on May 27, 2022.

“The first petitioner, Mr Obi, was a member of PDP until May 24, 2022. The first petitioner was screened as a presidential aspirant of the PDP in April 2022. The first petitioner participated and was cleared to contest the presidential election while being a member of the PDP,” the APC argued.

“First petitioner purportedly resigned his membership of PDP on May 24, 2022, to purportedly join the 2nd petitioner (Labour Party) on May 27, 2022.”

The ruling party also argued that the second petitioner, Labour Party, “conducted its presidential primary on May 30, 2022, which purportedly produced the first petitioner as its candidate, which time contravened Section 77(3) of the Electoral Act for him to contest the primary election as a member of the second petitioner.”

The APC opined that Obi had violated a section of the electoral laws and as such, had no locus standi to challenge the emergence of Tinubu as the President-elect.

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The party, therefore, argued that the tribunal lacked the requisite jurisdiction to entertain pre-election complaints embedded in the petition as presently constituted, among other arguments, and urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition with substantial cost as it is devoid of any merit and founded on frivolity.

Obi and the LP had sued the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Tinubu, his running mate and vice-president-elect, Kashim Shettima and the APC seeking the nullification of the election victory of Tinubu and Shettima in the February 25 presidential election.

In the petition filed by their lead counsel, Livy Ozoukwu, Obi and the LP had contended that Tinubu “was not duly elected by majority of the lawful votes cast at the time of the election,” as there was rigging in 11 states.

The petition also claimed that INEC violated its regulations when it announced the results even when the total polling unit results had not been fully scanned, uploaded and transmitted electronically as required by the Electoral Act.

The LP also urged the tribunal to “determine that, at the time of the presidential election held on February 25, 2023, the second and third respondents were not qualified to contest the election.”

Parts of the petition reads:

“That it be determined that all the votes recorded for the second respondent in the election are wasted votes, owing to the non-qualification of the second and third respondents.

“That it be determined that on the basis of the remaining votes (after discountenancing the votes credited to the second respondent), the first petitioner (Mr Obi) scored a majority of the lawful votes cast at the election and had not less than 25 per cent of the votes cast in each of at least two-thirds of the states of the federation and the FCT and satisfied the constitutional requirements to be declared the winner of the February 25 presidential election,” stated the petition.”

It further urged the tribunal to determine that Tinubu, “having failed to score one-quarter of the votes cast at the presidential election in the FCT, was not entitled to be declared and returned as the winner of the presidential election held on February 25.”

But in its response, the APC asked the tribunal to dismiss the suit on the ground that Obi, the first petitioner, lacked requisite locus standi to institute the petition because he was not a member of the Labour Party at least 30 days to the party’s presidential primary to be validly sponsored by the party.

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