The Supreme Court, yesterday, ended the 171-day legal tussle to nullify the election of President Bola Tinubu with the rejection of the election appeals filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) standard bearer, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP).
Atiku and Obi’s appeals commenced on May 8 and were concluded on Thursday, October 26, with the Supreme Court effectively ending their dreams of overturning Tinubu’s election victory.
In the lead judgment delivered by the Chairman of the seven-man panel, Justice Inyang Okoro, the apex court refused to consider the academic records of the President obtained from the Chicago State University, which Atiku sought to tender as fresh evidence to prove his allegation of certificate forgery against the ex-Lagos State governor.
The other justices on the panel-Uwani Aji, Mohammed Garba, Ibrahim Saulawa, Adamu Jauro, Abubakar Tijjani, and Emmanuel Agim, agreed with the lead judgment dismissing Atiku and Obi’s appeals.
An elated Tinubu welcomed the Supreme Court verdict and sought the support of Nigerians, promising to exceed expectations in service delivery in the remaining years of his administration.
The President also lauded the judiciary for withstanding “the fusillade of pressure and attempts at intimidation by some political actors.”
In the lead-up to Thursday’s judgment, Atiku and Obi had faulted the September 6 ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Court.
The PEPC headed by Justice Haruna Tsammani had dismissed their petitions and upheld Tinubu’s electoral victory in the February 25 presidential poll.
Atiku had filed 35 grounds of appeal while Obi filed 51 at the Supreme Court.
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, said the party was alarmed, disappointed, and gravely concerned by the reasoning of the apex court.
Punch