The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the appeals by the President Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi against the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the February 25 election.
The Apex Court therefore upheld the victory of the Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Tinubu as the winner of the 2023 presidential poll and the President of Nigeria.
News About Nigeria reports that in a unanimous decision, the seven-man panel led by Justice John Okoro in their ruling held that the appeal by both parties was devoid of merit.
The court’s ruling is in line with the Judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal which also affirmed Tinubu’s victory.
In their judgement today, the seven-man panel dismissed Atiku’s petition that President Bola Tinubu did not win the February 25 presidential election because he did not get up to 25% of the votes cast in the FCT.
They also held that the failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission to transmit results through the INEC Result Reviewing Portal (IReV) cannot be the basis for nullifying an election because it did not in any way affect the results of the 2023 presidential election.
On the issue of forfeiture of $460,00 by President Tinubu, the Apex Court held that the case had been effectively resolved because Atiku and the PDP introduced it to them through their reply, not in their petition.
The court also refused to accept fresh evidence from Atiku and the PDP as to whether Tinubu forged his Chicago State University (CSU) diploma certificate or not because the 180-day timeline for the determination of the election petition had elapsed.
The decision of the Supreme Court as the apex court of the nation is final on the matter.
