Tribunal: Tinubu, APC lose battle to stop petition against president

An effort by President Bola Tinubu and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) to stop the Allied People’s Movement (APM) in its petition challenging President’s qualification for the February 25, presidential election has been rejected by the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC).

The President, through his lead counsel, Wole Olanipekun (SAN), attempted to use a Supreme Court judgment delivered on May 26, to throw out the APM’s petition, but the request was turned down.

Tinubu’s protest was that the Apex Court had resolved the only issue raised in the petition of the APM in the judgment in another suit filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The President’s counsel urged the court to invoke the spirit and letters of the Supreme Court judgment to take out the hearing into the APM’s petition.

Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani-led tribunal, however, refused to align with Tinubu and held that the party cannot be shut out in the face of a fair hearing.

Justice Tsammani asked the President to keep his objections against the hearing of the petition till the final stages of the court’s proceedings.

Similar objections were raised by APC through its counsel, Charles Edosomwen SAN, against the petition on the same ground and the PEPC turned them down.

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

The lawyer noted that after appraisal of the judgment by the Supreme Court, he and his team agreed that there is life in the petition and applied for its hearing.

Gideon, however, sought adjournment till June 26 to enable him to 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 the hearing of the petition.