The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal is set to hear the motions brought by the presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, over the outcome of the February 25 election.
The tribunal’s presiding justice, Justice Haruna Tsammani, had scheduled the proceedings for Thursday over compliance with the directive to streamline issues.
The hearing, fixed for 2pm, has been brought by Obi and LP to review the compliance of parties and petitioners.
They will also bring a motion for the live broadcast of proceedings of the tribunal, arguing that the petitions are of public interest.
Meanwhile, National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has filed a motion seeking the dismissal of Allied Peoples Movement’s (APM) petition over the March governorship election in Ogun State.
Tinubu argues that the petition should be dismissed due to the fact that the APM’s candidate, Adekunle Akinlade, had sworn allegiance to another country, thereby rendering him ineligible to participate.
In a similar vein, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, have appealed to the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal to grant a motion for the live broadcast of the proceedings.
Counsel to Atiku, Chris Uche (SAN), said the application was “an order for the court’s registry and parties to admit media practitioners and equipment into the courtroom”.
Atiku contended that the matters of the 2023 general elections were of national concern and thus required live broadcast.
The presidency has stated that President Muhammadu Buhari would not intervene in the judicial process concerning the petitions filed by the PDP and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
A spokesperson for the presidency said anyone seeking to appeal the judgement of the tribunal had the “constitutional right” to do so, but added that Buhari “would not interfere with the judicial process”.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has informed the tribunal that Atiku’s claim that results from the commission’s server revealed he won the presidential election cannot be legally proven.
INEC’s counsel, Yunus Usman (SAN), said that the results Atiku and the PDP were relying on, were not results from the election but were manipulated and part of “electronically generated results”.
On the possibility of live broadcast of tribunal’s proceedings, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Party has voiced its opposition to the idea.
APC’s counsel, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), argued that it could jeopardise the integrity of the tribunal and lead to violence.
The APC further accused the PDP of attempting to create a media frenzy by “sponsoring” outlets and journalists to cover the proceedings.
The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) has alleged that the APC is working towards stalling the proceedings of the tribunal by filing multiple petitions.
The spokesperson of the CUPP, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, claimed that the APC was employing “delay tactics” and had filed up to 768 motions before the tribunal as a means of obstructing the PDP from accessing the election data.
Nigeria’s federal government has denied the alleged freezing of bank accounts belonging to the running mate of Atiku, Peter Obi.
In a statement by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the government described the rumours as “fake news”, adding that neither Obi’s accounts nor those of his family members had been frozen. Nigerians had criticised the allegations, calling it a “political witch hunt” by the ruling APC.
The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal has, however, reserved judgement on the motions brought before it. The panel of judges are expected to rule on the motions in the coming days.
