Say Shetima’s nomination, Tinubu’s alleged conviction outside tribunal’s jurisdiction

About 20 days after the Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, approached the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal to challenge the declaration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), winner of the February 25 presidential election, the APC Monday rose in defence of its victory at the polls.

Besides, the APC, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has also rose in defence of the poll, claiming that contrary to the allegations of LP and Mr Peter Obi, the presidential election was conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022.
Consequently, both APC and INEC have therefore in their separate replies to the LP and Obi petition’s asked the court to deny them all the reliefs sought on the grounds that their petition is “devoid of any merit and also founded on frivolity”.

Besides its reply brief to the petition, the APC also on Monday filed a Notice of Preliminary Objection to the hearing of the petition on the grounds that the petition is incompetent and lacking merit, adding that the tribunal lacked necessary jurisdiction to entertain it in the first place.

Amongst others, APC claimed that the Labour Party lacked the necessary locus standi to initiate the suit against the outcome of the presidential election on the grounds that it did “not present a valid candidate for that election”.

The APC in the reply filed by Mr Thomas Ojo from the chambers of Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, claimed that Obi was still a member of the PDP as at the time he was sponsored by the Labour Party.
The 1st Petitioner herein resigned his membership of the PDP on May 26, 2022 and joined the Labour Party the following day being May 27, 2022.

“The 2nd Petitioner herein conducted its Presidential Primary on May 30, 2022 which produced the 1st Petitioner as the candidate it intended to sponsor in the General Election

“By section 77(3) of the Electoral Act, 2022, the 2nd Petitioner is mandated to have submitted its comprehensive register of members to the Ist Respondent 30 days before its presidential primary That is to say the said register of members must have been submitted to the Ist Respondent on or before 30th April, 2022.
The 1st Petitioner as at April 30, 2022 was still a member of the PDP and his name was not and could not have been in the register of members submitted by the 2nd Petitioner to 1st Respondent”.

In another ground, APC argued that the LP and Obi’s petition was defective because they failed to include candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who came second in the Presidential election with 6,984,520 votes as against the petitioners who came third with 6,101,533 votes.
It is the APC’s submission that “For the Tribunal to grant prayer (iii) of the Petitioners, the Tribunal must have set aside the scores and election of Alhaji: Atiku Abubakar;

“Ahaji Atiku Abubakar must be heard before his votes can be discountenanced by the Tribunal,

“The petition is incompetent for failure to join as a party to the petition the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar the Ist runner up and his political party People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as a Respondent whose right would be affected by the reliefs sought in the petition”.
Responding to the issues of alleged unlawful nomination of the vice presidential candidate, Senator Kasim Shetima and allegations of conviction involving the President-elect, the APC argued both issues are outside the jurisdiction of the election petition tribunal.

The petitioners had urged the tribunal to nullify Tinubu’s election and hold that the APC had no lawful candidate in the presidential poll because the vice president-elect was a senatorial candidate as at the time he was nominated as running mate to Tinubu.
But responding , the APC claimed that complaints bordering on disqualification, nomination and sponsorship of candidates for an election are preelection matters that cannot be raised or canvased before an election tribunal as purportedly done herein by the Petitioners.

In addition, the APC claimed that the issue has become statute barred having not been filed within the time provided by law.

APC further disclosed that the Court of Appeal) has already settled and/or determined the validity of the nomination of the 3rd Respondent as the 2nd Respondent’s lawful running mate for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Appeal No. CA/ABJ/ CS/108/2023 decided on 24 March, 2023.
https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2023/04/11/apc-inec-defends-tinubus-election-as-president-ask-tribunal-to-dismiss-obi-lp-petition/
Nlfpmod mukina2 Seun lalasticlala

Way to go. Dismiss the petition now......

It's hightime bold-faced Nzogbu-dients realized that their petition lacks legitimacy. Especially the laughable 25% votes in the FCT.

In their subtlety, ObiDafty and their ilk feign not to know what that sentence of the Electoral Act says. Or could it be that they do not know the usage of the conjunction “and”?

So FCT residents/voters bring to mind the saying in George Orwell's Animal Farm which goes thus: All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others ?

Alright

G

Should we be crying over a split milk

Pandora aka Yes Daddy and the Dubai man have no case.

INEC is expected to defend who they declared as winner so that's is understandable

Just like that ?

Nn need for noise,
Obi.diot don't have party to challenge the result

The 3rd class graduate remains a boy, Politics is not for frog voice Pandora fraud

😎

Yoruba people should stop giving themselves false hope.

Tinubu did not win any election and cannot be sworn in as Nigeria president.

No man born of a woman can swear in Tinubu as Nigeria president. Know this and know peace 😎

BrotherShade:
😎

Yoruba people should stop giving themselves false hope.

Tinubu did not win any election and cannot be sworn in as Nigeria president.

No man born of a woman can swear in Tinubu as Nigeria president. Know this and know peace 😎

sacrificing all zobiedence heads and pandora"s head wont stop tilumbu from ruling for 8 years,then he will hand over to senator shetimma. no man born of a woman in southeast can stop tinlubu's inauguration!know this so your generation and your tribes men can know any peace!

BrotherShade:
😎

Yoruba people should stop giving themselves false hope.

Tinubu did not win any election and cannot be sworn in as Nigeria president.

No man born of a woman can swear in Tinubu as Nigeria president. Know this and know peace 😎

They already know, but keep defending lies upon lies!

Let's see how it goes...even the petitions presented by LP are very shallow
I hope they won't cry fowl once these time wasting are thrown out through the window using left hand for lack of merit

Lol

Technical ground will set this country on fire on a hugely flawed election like the one we just had

So Apc is now hoping on technicalities. What a World we live in.
The whole talk of " go to court" " go to court " was based on dismissing any petition that was brought against Apc.

The mandate Tinubu stole with the help of Inec will be shamelesly retrieved from him.

Nigeria is a Theater of Circus lords

INEC is a scam. Mahmood Yakubu is a fraudster

Where its electronic transmission from polling units inec u re a fraud

BrotherShade:
😎

Yoruba people should stop giving themselves false hope.

Tinubu did not win any election and cannot be sworn in as Nigeria president.

No man born of a woman can swear in Tinubu as Nigeria president. Know this and know peace 😎

You are writing this because........

Nice one Inec

BrotherShade:
😎

Yoruba people should stop giving themselves false hope.

Tinubu did not win any election and cannot be sworn in as Nigeria president.

No man born of a woman can swear in Tinubu as Nigeria president. Know this and know peace 😎

When last did you check your BP?

This is one of the reasons why FG went to quickly build 15 psychiatric hospitals in SE.

Post inauguration trauma won't be easy for you guys.

It will dawn on them on May 29 when Tinubu is sworn in for 8 years that noise n paid propaganda and ethnic chauvinism count for nothing against a more superior and well knitted ethnic group. Meehn they will feel the hate raw from 30th of May

BrotherShade:
😎

Yoruba people should stop giving themselves false hope.

Tinubu did not win any election and cannot be sworn in as Nigeria president.

No man born of a woman can swear in Tinubu as Nigeria president. Know this and know peace 😎

BrotherShade:
😎

Yoruba people should stop giving themselves false hope.

Tinubu did not win any election and cannot be sworn in as Nigeria president.

No man born of a woman can swear in Tinubu as Nigeria president. Know this and know peace 😎

Let Tinubu come and sit on that sit and less see........

I said it, APC will capitalized on technicalities instead of the main justice.
I just hope the supreme court justices will not use technicalities to withdraw the case.

herkeem:
Way to go. Dismiss the petition now......

Dismiss 🔥 inec don't have a say in this... Definitely them go loose the case