Bola Tinubu suffers a setback in a judicial counterattack against Peter Obi who is challenging Tinubu’s declaration as president-elect.
A panel of three Court of Appeal justices yesterday dismissed a similar suit against Obi by Allied Peoples Movement (APM). The justices said the case has no merit.
APM sought to bar Obi from contesting the 25 February presidential election because he was allegedly not validly nominated.
The party said Obi’s nomination violated Section 77(2) and (3) of the Electoral Act, 2022.
This section requires each political party to forward the names of its members to INEC at least 30 days before holding its primaries.
APM said Mr. Obi joined the Labour Party after the party submitted its lists and was therefore not a legitimate member of the party. Consequently, it argued that Obi cannot contest election as a member of LP because his name was not on the list of members submitted according to law.
APM previously lost the case at the High Court and equally lost the appeal yesterday.
Tinubu’s case suffers setback
The ruling appears to undercut the major plank of Tinubu’s judicial counterattack against Obi at the Presidential Election Appeal Court.
In a preliminary objection filed on Monday, Mr. Tinubu asked the Presidential Election Appeal Court to dismiss Obi’s case against his declaration as president-elect because the Labour Party candidate has no locus standi on the matter.
The notice filed on Monday argues that Mr. Obi’s petition is “incompetent and lacking in merit” and that the Tribunal does not have powers to entertain it in the first place.
Tinubu and his party claim that the Labour Party did “not present a valid candidate for that election,” and therefore does not have the locus standi to initiate a suit against the outcome of the election.
Obi, according to the APC, was still a member of the PDP at the time he was sponsored by the Labour Party.
“(He) resigned his membership of the PDP on 26 May 2022 and joined the Labour Party the following day being 27 May 2022.
“(Labour Party) conducted its Presidential Primary on 30 May 2022 which produced (Obi) as the candidate it intended to sponsor in the General Election
“By section 77(3) of the Electoral Act, 2022, (LP) is mandated to submit its comprehensive register of members to the (INEC) 30 days before its presidential primary. That is to say, the said register of members must have been submitted to (INEC) on or before 30 April 2022.
“(Mr. Obi) as of 30 April 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 (LP) to (INEC)”.
Tinubu’s case against Obi suffers setback
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