Labour Party, Atiku files appeal at Supreme Court challenging tribunal judgement

The Labour Party ( LP) on Tuesday filed an appeal at the Supreme Court challenging the decision of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal( PEPT) that dismissed its application challenging the declaration of President Bola Tinubu as the winner of the February 25 Presidential election

The Court had in the ruling on the petition stated that the petitioners made generic allegations of irregularities against the respondent without specifying the polling units, amongst the several reasons adduced for throwing out the petition

The appeal marks the final legal battle for the Contentious February 25th, 2023 Presidential Election, according to Obiora Ifoh, the National Publicity Secretary, of the Labour Party.

Obi and LP’s team of lawyers led by Livy Uzokwu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), beat the deadline for the filing of the Appeal and are approaching the apex court on 51 grounds, which they termed an error in law to prove that the All Progressives Congress, APC Presidential Candidate in the election, Bola Ahmed Tinubu did not win the election

The appellants said that it was wrong for both INEC and the PEPC to declare him winner of the election when many incontrovertible points were proving otherwise.

In their reliefs, Obi and the Labour Party sought from the Apex Court four key points: Allow the Appeal, set aside the perverse Judgment of the PEPC, and grant the Reliefs sought in the petition, either in the main or in the alternative.

On the issue of the 25% requirement for Abuja, Obi and the Labour Party listed the particulars of error by the PEPC as follows.

That the PEPC failed to appreciate that for the President to assume the office or position of the Governor of Abuja, is also under a mandate to secure 25% of the votes cast in the FCT.

They also accused the PEPC of overlooking the fuller purport of section 299, which will be more glaring on a calm examination of section 301 of the constitution.

In the same vain, Abubakar Atiku, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, has appealed the judgment of the election petition tribunal that upheld the election of President Bola Tinubu.

In a 35-ground notice of appeal submitted on Tuesday, Atiku’s legal team charged that the tribunal had made a “serious error” in its ruling.

The notice of appeal, which was filed by Atiku’s lead counsel, Chris Uche, SAN, requests that the Supreme Court overturn all of the tribunal’s findings and conclusions because they do not accurately represent the foundations of his petition.

The former vice president argued that the tribunal had erred in law by failing to annul the presidential election held on February 25, 2023, on the grounds of non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2022.

He claimed that the Independent National Electoral Commission conducted the election based on “serious and gross misrepresentation” violating the Electoral Act 2022 principles, relying on the “doctrine of legitimate expectation.”

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the appeal next week whereas a date is yet to be fixed for the hearing of Obi’s case.