Supreme Court Affirms Tinubu’s Election, Dismissed Atiku, Obi’s Appeal

The Supreme court on Thursday affirmed the February 25, 2023 election of President Bola Tinubu as the validly elected president of Nigeria.

In a unanimous decision by the 7-member justices, the apex court held that the appellants failed to prove his case.

The supreme court dismissed the appeal of PDP, its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and that of Labour Party, Peter Obi

Atiku had in the notice of appeal asked the apex court to set aside the judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT).

In the led judgement read by Justice John Okoro, the court held that the appeal was void of merit and dismissed the appeal. It also affirmed the judgement of the PEPT.

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On the IREV portal, the court ruled that the portal is not a collection system though it is part of the election system. It however held that the failure of the IREV during the presidential election reduced the confidence of the public in electioneering process.

The apex court also refused to allow fresh forgery case into the appeal by the former vice president.

“Moreso, there is no paragraph of the petition to accommodate a case of forgery. Again the appellant have distilled 7 issues for the examination of this appeal and none relate to certificate forgery. One wonders what the appellant intend to do with the disposition since appeal are held on the issues distilled for determination in this court.”

On the issue of 25% in Abuja, the apex court agreed with the lower court submission that the FCT does not have a special status in determining the presidential election.