September 06, (THEWILL) – The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), Abuja, on Wednesday, dismissed the petition filed by the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) against the election of President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima.
The five-member panel of the court, in a judgement read by Justice Haruna Tsammani, dismissed the petition for lack of substance.
Justice Haruna Tsammani, who read the lead ruling, held that the issue of nomination, which is a pre-election matter, is outside the scope of the court’s jurisdiction sitting as an election tribunal.
He held that the issue ought to have been raised before the Federal High Court, adding that even if it was to be heard by the PEPC, the issue is statute-barred.
Justice Tsammani also held that the petitioner lacked the locus standi to have brought the petition because the law did not allow a political party to query the process adopted by another political party in nominating its candidate.
The Court also held that invalid nomination or double nomination did not qualify as a ground for disqualification in respect of the presidential election as provided in sections 131 and 137 of the Constitutional. It also held that Masari, who was nominated as a placeholder by the APC (for the position of the Vice President) was not a necessary party to the petition because he was neither a candidate nor did he win the election.
Justice Tsammani also found that Masari was not a necessary party because no claim was raised against him by the petitioner.
The court held that APM lacked locus standi to institute matters bothering on nomination and sponsorship of Shettima which is a pre-election issue.
THEWILL reports that the APM had, in its petition, contended through its lawyer, Andrew Malgwi (SAN), that Tinubu was improperly sponsored by the All Progressives Congress (APC) since he nominated Kashim Shettima as his vice-presidential candidate for the election.
It claimed that at the time Shettima accepted to be APC’s vice-presidential candidate, he was still the party’s candidate for Borno Central Senatorial District.
It further contended that the withdrawal of Kabiru Masari, who was initially nominated as the Vice-Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), invalidated Tinubu’s candidacy in view of Section 131(c) and 142 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
The party argued that there was a gap of about three weeks between the period that Masari, who was listed as the 5th Respondent in the petition, expressed intention to withdraw, the actual withdrawal of his purported nomination, and the time Tinubu purportedly replaced him with Senator Shettima.
It further argued that Tinubu’s candidature had elapsed at the time he nominated Shettima as Masari’s replacement.
According to the petitioner, as at the time Tinubu announced Shettima as the Vice Presidential candidate, “he was no longer in a position, constitutionally, to nominate a running mate since he had ceased to be a presidential candidate of the 2nd Respondent, having regards to the provisions of section 142 of the 1999 Constitution”.
More so, APM contended that Masari’s initial nomination activated the joint ticket principle enshrined in the Constitution, stressing that his subsequent withdrawal invalidated the said joint ticket.
It, therefore, prayed the court to declare that Shettima was not qualified to contest as the vice-presidential candidate of the APC as of February 25 when the election was conducted by INEC, having violated the provisions of Section 35 of the Electoral Act, 2022.
“It also prayed for an order nullifying and voiding all the votes scored by Tinubu in the presidential election in view of his non-qualification as a candidate of the APC,” as well as an order to set aside the Certificate of Return that was issued to the President by INEC.
Cited as 1st to 5th Defendants in the petition marked: CA/PEPC/04/2023, are the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, President Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, and Mr. Kabiru Masari.
About the Author
