A SEVEN-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Inyang Okoro, has dismissed the appeal of the Allied People’s Movement (APM) against the decision of the Presidential Election Petition Court, which affirmed the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the February 2023 presidential election.
The Court announced this on Monday, October 23, after lawyers to parties adopted their briefs of argument and made submissions.
The apex court urged APM to withdraw its plea as it did not have prayers for determination.
Okoro declared the dismissal of the appeal after the appellant’s lawyer, Chukwuma Majukwu Umeh, applied to withdraw it.
The panel noted that the case was frivolous because the Supreme Court had, in an earlier case of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) v. INEC and others, resolved this issue that Shettima was properly nominated.
Counsel for the APM, Umeh, subsequently withdrew the petition.
The withdrawal received no opposition from the respondents.
The Supreme Court subsequently dismissed the appeal.
The Court also deferred ruling until after the lawyers accepted their final arguments and documents in the Labour Party (LP) and Peter Obi’s appeal.
While adopting his written briefs, the lawyer to Obi and LP, Livy Uzoukwu, prayed the Court to allow the appeal and grant the reliefs sought.
Abubakar Mahmoud, Akin Olujimi and Wole Olanipekun, lawyers for INEC, Tinubu, Shettima and APC respectively urged the Court to dismiss the appeal for lacking merit.
The apex court also heard arguments from the parties’ counsels over Atiku Abubakar’s, the PDP candidate, request for further proof regarding Tinubu’s alleged falsified documents.
Chris Uche, Abubakar’s attorney, pleaded with the Court to accept the appeal, grant the requested petitions, and sacked Tinubu from office.
However, the Court was persuaded to dismiss the application and appeal due to lack of merit by the respondent attorneys, Abubakar Mahmoud representing INEC, Wole Olanipekun, representing Tinubu, and Akin Olujimi, standing in for the APC.
The Supreme Court has reserved judgment on the petition by Abubakar, and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP).
The Court said parties would be informed when the judgment is ready.
A reporter with the ICIR
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