Supreme Court to rule on Atiku’s, Obi’s petitions against Tinubu Thursday
Festus Akande, the spokesperson for the Supreme Court of Nigeria, has revealed that the seven-man panel, which heard the appeals filed by the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP), Abubakar Atiku and Peter Obi against the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the February presidential poll, would deliver its ruling tomorrow, Thursday.
The apex court heard the petitions Tuesday, after which it reserved its ruling. Atiku and Obi are asking the court to nullify Tinubu’s victory, as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The two politicians are claiming to have won the election and urging the court to declare them individually the winner.
Atiku had presented fresh evidence bordering on Tinubu’s academic records he received from the Chicago State University (CSU) to the court.
According to Atiku, Tinubu presented a forged diploma to INEC, the reason for which he wants him disqualified. Atiku is also asking the court to declare him the actual winner of the poll.
On their own parts, Tinubu’s and INEC’s lawyers, Wole Olaonipekun and Abubakar Mahmood respectively, accused Atiku of trying to “smuggle” in evidence he did not plead at the trial court. Therefore, they asked the court to dismiss the petition.
Olaonipekun and Mahmood, in a similar similar vein, asked the apex court to dismiss Obi’s petition against Tinubu for lacking merit.
