The Supreme Court of Nigeria has upheld the election of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the February 25 presidential elections.
Justice Inyang Okoro, while reading the lead judgement, also upheld the decision of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), which dismissed the petition filed by the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar.
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The apex court dismissed the application seeking leave of the court to file fresh evidence in Atiku’s appeal against the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the February 25 presidential election.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu speaks to the media after the Supreme Court judgement.
Atiku, in the motion dated October 5th, filed on October 6th, pleaded with the apex court to grant him leave to bring in fresh evidence by way of depositions on oath from the Chicago State University for use in his appeal.
The Apex Court also dismissed the appeal by the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, on similar grounds.
Breaking: Supreme Court affirms President Tinubu’s victory. It’s a victory for Nigeria and the rule of law. All the parties are winners. No victor, no vanquished. Politics is over.
We now expect the opposition to support President Tinubu in steering our nation to greater… pic.twitter.com/VoVfgBAodU
— Bayo Onanuga (@aonanuga1956) October 26, 2023
On the substantive appeal, the Apex also dismissed all issues for determination in the appeal for lacking merit.
The court unanimously held that the PDP and LP candidates failed to prove that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not substantially comply with provisions of the Electoral Act in the conduct of the election.
The apex court held that the evidence contained in the record of the appeal showed that the appellants (Atiku and PDP) abandoned the duty imposed on them by the law to not only prove the alleged non-compliance but to establish that the failure of INEC to transmit the results of the election through its IReV portal influenced the outcome of the presidential poll.
In past judgements, the Supreme Court said it had made it clear that there was a difference between the election result collation system and the IReV portal.
By the judgment of the Supreme Court today, the laymen prowling all over the social media can now clearly see that there is a wide chasm between emotions and law. These were Election Petitions pursued with unnecessary venom and hatred by most of those involved. Today, they have…
— Festus Keyamo, SAN, CON, FCIArb (UK) (@fkeyamo) October 26, 2023
The court said, “The non-transmission of results to the IReV portal may also reduce the confidence of the voting population in the electoral process.”
On the issue of securing 25% of Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory FCT by candidates, the Apex Court affirmed the decision of the Presidential Elections Petition Court PEPC, which held that FCT does not have any special status above the remaining states of Nigeria.
It further upheld the striking evidence of some of the witnesses who testified for Atiku at the PEPC hearing, adding that most of the witnesses gave “inadmissible hearsay” evidence.
“The appellants did not present any evidence to warrant interference with the findings of the lower court,” the head of the apex court panel,” Justice Okoro, added.
On the issue that President Tinubu was involved in a drug-related case in the USA that led to the forfeiture of $460, 000, the Supreme Court held that Tinubu raised the issue when the Respondents had already filed their process.
On the issue of the double nomination of Vice President Kashim Shetima brought by Labour Party presidential candidate Mr. Obi, the court held that the matter has since been dealt with by the court.
