Tribunal okays ‘double nomination’ case against Tinubu and Shettima for judgment

The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) in Abuja has reserved judgment in a petition filed by the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) challenging the election of President Bola Tinubu.

The APM petition, which was filed on March 15, 2023, alleges that Tinubu’s election was invalid because his vice presidential running mate, Kashim Shettima, was nominated twice by the All Progressives Congress (APC) for different elective positions.

The APM has argued that the withdrawal of Kabiru Masari as the vice-presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) invalidated the candidacy of Bola Tinubu, the party’s presidential candidate.

The party said there was a three-week gap between the time Masari expressed his intention to withdraw and the time he was officially replaced by Kashim Shettima.

The APM argued that this meant that Tinubu’s candidacy had elapsed by the time he nominated Shettima as his running mate.

The party also said that Masari’s initial nomination activated the joint ticket principle enshrined in the Constitution and that his subsequent withdrawal invalidated the said joint ticket.

As a result, the APM is asking the PEPC 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 the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and to nullify and void all the votes scored by Tinubu in the presidential election.

The PEPC says it will communicate the date of the judgment to the parties in due course.

The APM petition is the latest legal battle challenging Shettima’s alleged double nomination.

In May, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenging Tinubu’s eligibility to run for president.