Supreme Court sets to deliver judgement on Atiku and Obi’s appeals against Tinubu today
The Supreme Court is scheduled to deliver judgement on Thursday, October 26, 2023, in the cases of the Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi; the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar and the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The PDP presidential candidate and his LP counterpart have lodged appeals challenging the September 6, 2023, ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) that upheld Tinubu’s electoral victory.
The judgement date was confirmed by all parties involved on Wednesday.
At its last sitting on Monday, the apex court reserved judgement filed by Atiku and the PDP against the verdict of the Presidential Election Petition Court which affirmed Tinubu’s victory in the February 25 presidential poll.
A seven-member panel of the court, led by Justice Inyang Okoro announced this on Monday after counsels to parties adopted their briefs of argument and made final submissions
The apex court also took arguments from lawyers to parties on the motion filed by Atiku to supply fresh evidence on forged documents.
Counsel to Atiku Abubakar, Mister Chris Uche, urged the court to grant the motion and allow their appeal, grant the prayers sought, and disqualify Tinubu.
Counsel to the Respondents, Abubakar Mahmoud for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Wole Olanipekun for President Tinubu, and Akin Olujinmi for the All Progressives Congress (APC) urged the court to dismiss both the motion and appeal for lacking in merit.
Meanwhile, each of the three parties has expressed optimism that the verdict would go their way.
The APC Director of Publicity, Bala Ibrahim, said the apex court would affirm Tinubu’s victory, given the evidence before the court.
He said, “Certainly, we are still sure of victory. In fact, our optimism is even stronger now because all the facts presented that day was in our favour. We are very confident of the integrity of the justices of the Supreme Court and we have no doubt in our mind that there is nothing to give us any iota of doubt with regards to getting justice tomorrow (Thursday).”
But the National Legal Adviser of LP, Kehinde Edun, disagreed, saying their candidate, Obi, will emerge victorious.
Edun said, “We are expecting victory. We have presented our case before the court and even at the Court of Appeal, we have tabled fresh facts. Don’t mind all these talks that the law cannot accommodate fresh evidence. Which law says that?
“If something has happened and you want justice, if there is still time, we will put in everything we want to add. So, we are confident we will get victory for Nigerians and the Labour Party.”
On his part, the PDP Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Ibrahim Abdullahi, urged the Supreme Court to see beyond narrow considerations in its judgment.
He said, “We are appealing to their conscience to see beyond the narrow considerations that have characterised the way the judiciary has acted in recent times. That is approbating and reprobating at the same time. It is important to know that there is a country that we are bequeathing to our children and grandchildren yet unborn.
