There is anxiety as a seven-member panel of the Supreme Court hears the appeals by Atiku Abubakar, and Peter Obi challenging the judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Court which affirmed President Bola Tinubu’s election today.
Members of the panel, which have yet to be unveiled, will hear the appeals by Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, the Labour Party’s Peter Obi, and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) challenging the election of Mr Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja headed by Haruna Tsammani had ruled that Atiku and Mr Obi failed to substantiate their separate claims of widespread electoral malpractices during the conduct of the 25 February presidential election by Nigeria’s electoral commission, INEC.
The court also dismissed another petition filed by the APM on the ground that the suit was lacking in merit.
Atiku, Mr Obi and the APM all filed separate appeals to challenge the decision of the court.
The issues raised in the appeals include the eligibility of President Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima’s candidacy for the election.
The appellants also raised the issue of Mr Tinubu’s inability to secure 25 per cent of valid votes cast in Abuja during the polls.
They are also contesting INEC’s failure to electronically transmit polling unit results to its Results Viewing (IReV) portal in real-time and allegations of vote manipulation in favour of Mr Tinubu.
Another key bone of contention before the seven-member panel of the Supreme Court is Mr Tinubu’s academic records which were obtained from the Chicago State University (CSU) in October by Atiku.
Atiku has already filed the president’s educational documents before the court, urging it to examine the authenticity of Mr Tinubu’s academic records from CSU.
However, Mr Tinubu’s lead lawyer, Wole Olanipekun, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), in court filings said Atiku and Mr Obi’s appeals lack substance.
