Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) has fixed Wednesday, September 6, to deliver judgement on two separate petitions filed by the Presidential Candidates of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and his Labour Party (LP) counterpart, Mr Peter Obi.
The duo are challenging the declaration of Bola Tinubu as the winner of February 25, 2023, presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Presidential Diary reports that Tinubu polled a total of 8,794,726 votes to emerge winner of the election. He was closely followed by Atiku, who scored 6,984,520 and Obi with 6,101,533 votes to place second and third positions respectively.
Confirming the development via a statement on Monday in Abuja, the Chief Registrar of the Court of Appeal, Mr Umar Bangari hinted that the proceedings would be aired live by interested media houses at no cost.
He hinted that the court premises would be surrounded by security agents, as only invited members of political parties and the general public would be allowed into the court room to avoid congestion and security breaches.
Bangari said: “The Court of Appeal wishes to inform the General Public that judgment in the following petitions before the Presidential Election Petition Court will be delivered on Wednesday 6th September 2023: CA/PEPC/03/2023 between Mr. Peter Gregory Obi & Anor VS. Independent National Electoral Commission & 3 Ors. CA/PEPC/04/2023 between Allied Peoples Movement VS. Independent National Electoral Commission & 4 Ors.
“CA/PEPC/05/2023 between Abubakar Atiku & Anor VS. Independent National Electoral Commission & 2 Ors. In a bid to promote transparency and openness, these judgments will be televised live by interested Television Stations for the public to follow.”
“Access to the Court premises will be strictly on accreditation. Only accredited individuals, including Counsel and representatives of Political Parties, will be granted access to the courtroom. Interested members of the public are advised to watch proceedings from their television sets. We appeal for the maximum cooperation of the general public to ensure a hitch-free exercise, please”.
The petitioners also noted that INEC violated the law by declaring Tinubu, who failed to obtain 25 percent of votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as winner.
In addition, judgement is also expected to be delivered by election tribunals in 25 States for governorship, National Assembly, and state assembly election petitions.
The election results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission are also contested in 25 states out of the 28 states where elections were conducted.
Reacting, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale said that Tinubu is unperturbed on the possible outcome of the tribunal judgment.
In an interview on Channels Television on Monday, Ngelale noted that the President has confidence and faith in the judiciary, saying that Tinubu is sure that his mandate would be affirmed.
“Unlike some political gladiators in the country, the president sees no need to threaten judicial officers.
“He sees no need to raise speculations against the integrity of judicial officers. He believes in the sanctity and integrity of the Nigerian judicial system.
“He believes the great men and women on the panel will make their decisions based only on the facts before them and not based on anything else.
“As a result of his confidence and faith in the judiciary, he believes that the mandate which Nigerians freely gave to him during the elections would stand. That is the position of the president.
“He will continue to ensure that no matter what the outcome of the judgment is, he does his part and ensures that our institutions continue to be respected, not just by him, but by all actors.
“He is not worried because he knows he won the election. We believe that we have presented the best case and the evidence is on our side.” he added.
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