BREAKING: Tinubu, APC Lose As Presidential Tribunal Reject Move To Stop His Qualification

The attempt by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to stop the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) in its petition challenging his qualifications to contest February 25, 2023, presidential election was on Monday rejected by the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) sitting in Abuja.

Tinubu through his lead counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) had sought to use a Supreme Court judgment delivered on May 26, 2023, to terminate the APM’s petition but the request was turned down.

The grouse of Tinubu was that the sole issue raised in the petition of the APM had been resolved by the Apex Court in the judgment in a suit seeking to disqualify him from participating in the presidential election filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He sought to move the Court to invoke the spirit and letters of the Supreme Court judgment to halt hearing in the APM’s petition marked,CA/PEPC/04/2023.

The five member panel of Justices of the court, presided by Justice Haruna Tsammani disagreed with Tinubu and held that the party cannot be shut out in the interest of fair hearing.

The court asked Tinubu to keep his objections against hearing of the petition to the final address stage of the proceedings.

Similar objections raised by APC through its counsel, Charles Edosomwen (SAN) against the petition on the same ground was turned down by the court for the same reason.

Earlier, the APM through its lawyer, Mr Gideon Ijiagbonya had informed the Court of receipt of the Supreme Court judgment being sought to be used to terminate its petition.

The lawyer said that upon perusal of the judgment by the Supreme Court, he and his legal team came to the conclusion that there is life in APM’s petition and applied for its hearing.

He however sought for adjournment till June 26 to enable him obtain a vital document from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to establish his case.

Justice Tsammani in a brief ruling rejected a week long adjournment and fixed Wednesday June 21 for hearing of the petition.

Tinubu had early this month told the Court that the petition instituted against him and his Vice, Kashim Shetima by the APM died at the Supreme Court on May 26, 2023.

The President said that the petition challenging his qualifications for the election on ground of “place holder’ by Kabiru Masari was resolved by the Apex Court in a judgment in a suit filed by PDP on similar ground.

Tinubu through his lawyer, disclosed that, the the PDP’S case marked SC/CV/501/2023 had resolved the grievances brought before the Court by the Allied Peoples Movement.

The Supreme Court had in the judgment held that PDP or any other parties, have no right to poke nose into how other parties conducted their primary elections and nomination of their candidates.

Olanipekun had argued that the APM’s petition was similar to the PDP’s case taken to Supreme Court and dismissed on the grounds that PDP has no business interfering with internal affairs of other parties.

He submitted that the APM’s petition is predicted on internal affairs of the APC and that the Supreme Court’s latest judgment had taken life out of the petition.