The Supreme Court, on Monday, dismissed the appeal filed by the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), seeking to nullify the election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the February 25 poll, News About Nigeria reports.
A seven-member panel of the Supreme Court, chaired by John Okoro, struck out APM’s appeal after the party’s lawyer, Chukwuma Machukwu-Ume, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, withdrew the suit.
The APM, in its appeal, challenged the eligibility of President Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima.
According to the appeal, their contention is based on their allegation that Shettima had double nominations – as a vice-presidential candidate and a senatorial candidate in the same election cycle.
The party also claimed that the placeholder nominated by the president, Ibrahim Masari, was not replaced within the 14 days stipulated by Section 33 of the Electoral Act.
At the hearing on Monday, the lead counsel for the party told the court that their appeal was not only premised on double nomination but also on the fact that Shettima was illegally nominated.
After listening to their appeal, the panel led by John Okoro asked if the APM had anything to gain from the matter.
“What will you gain if you win this appeal? There are other appeals that are asking for something substantial. There is nothing to gain but to give us work to do. You are not asking us to put your candidate there as president.”
Following this, the APM lawyer, after deliberation with other party lawyers on the bench, applied to withdraw his appeal.
The court, therefore, granted his appeal, saying, “having been withdrawn, the appeal is hereby struck out.
