Tribunal postpones Obi’s petition against Tinubu to May 10

The pre-hearing of the suit filed by the Labour Party (LP) and Peter Obi contesting Bola Tinubu’s victory in the presidential election of February 25 has been postponed by the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal in Abuja on Monday until May 10, 2023.

The triumph of Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate is being contested by the former governor of Anambra State, who finished third in the presidential election.

Obi and his party have called on the tribunal to look into the situation and issue a fair judgement after raising concerns about the openness and fairness of the electoral process.

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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Tinubu, Shettima Kashim, and the APC are the respondents to the petition, which was brought jointly by Obi and his party.

Obi and LP want the tribunal to determine “that the 2nd Respondent (Tinubu) having failed to score one-quarter of the votes cast at the Presidential Election in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja was not entitled to be declared and returned as the winner of the presidential election held on 25 February 2023”.

Obi and his party also prayed the court to order the cancellation of the February 25 presidential election.

They added that: “the Presidential election conducted on 25th February 2023 is void on the ground that the election was not conducted substantially in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 and Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended”.

The LP candidate additionally requested that the court order INEC to hold a new election in addition to cancelling the previous one.

Obi also requested that the tribunal issue an order disqualifying Tinubu and Shettima from standing in the new election.

He said, “The nomination of Kashim Shettima as the Vice Presidential candidate was defective as he did not withdraw from his nomination as a senatorial candidate of his party before accepting to serve as the vice presidential candidate of Tinubu”.

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