The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal has dismissed numerous portions of the petitions filed by the People Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, seeking to overturn Tinubu’s election victory, as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Evidence and witness statements provided by Abubakar, alleging election irregularities, were also rejected by the tribunal.
Tinubu’s lead attorney, Wole Olanipekun SAN, successfully argued certain objections, leading Justice Moses Ugoh to determine that sections of Atiku’s petition were baseless and therefore inadmissible.
Similarly, the tribunal found that Labour Party’s Peter Obi lacked critical details in his presentations to back up his claims. The court pointed out that Abubakar did not specify locations of alleged ballot box theft or BVAS machine manipulation.
While Abubakar claimed he received the majority of legal votes, he didn’t distinctly state the exact count in his petition. The tribunal also noted that he accused Governor Yahaya Bello and Chairman of Olamaboro LGA, Friday Adejoh, of misconduct, yet failed to include them as respondents, denying them the chance to legally defend themselves.
Key allegations, such as over-voting, were dismissed due to a lack of specificity. Additionally, Abubakar’s petition introduced several allegations, deemed inappropriate and unexpected by the respondents.
He also purportedly made claims outside the proper filing procedure, such as allegations against Tinubu concerning certificate forgery and dual citizenship.
Justice Stephen Adah further ruled against the petition, discarding various documents presented by Abubakar because they were produced during the petition’s ongoing process. The tribunal also removed key witnesses from the record, finding them inadmissible.
The tribunal concluded that the format and content of Atiku’s petition resulted in many sections being removed due to their lack of substance.
