BREAKING: Presidential tribunal to deliver verdict Wednesday, allows live broadcast

The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal will deliver its verdict on Wednesday, September 6 in Abuja.

The Court Registrar Umar Bangari in a statement on Monday, confirmed the date.

He also added that interested television stations will be allowed to broadcast the sitting live.

The tribunal will deliver its verdict on the petitions brought by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its Presidential Candidate Atiku Abubakar, the Labour Party and its Presidential Candidate Peter Obi and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM).

The petitioners are challenging the declaration of President Bola Tinubu as winner of the February 25 presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The tribunal had on August 1, reserved judgement on the petitions after listening to the petitioners’ final address.

Atiku had in his final address, asked the tribunal to declare him the winner of the February 25 presidential election. According to him, President Tinubu was not qualified to contest the election “having regard to an order of criminal forfeiture against him arising from a drug-related offence, his declaration of allegiance to a country other than Nigeria and acquisition of citizenship of another country and presenting a forged certificate to the first respondent (INEC)”.

He also said that Tinubu’s declaration as the winner of the presidential election was “invalidated by reason of substantial non-compliance with the mandatory provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 on electronic transmission of results for collation and verification by deliberate bypass of and failure to transmit the election results electronically”.

He added, “Notwithstanding, the first respondent (INEC) unequivocally and clearly admitted in its pleadings, namely paragraph 18 on page 13 of its reply to the petition, which was never refuted nor retracted that the petitioners won 21 states of the federation in the presidential election, which is an admission against interest.

“As a result of non-use of the collation by electronic transmission, the first respondent (INEC) later altered the admitted result of 21 states for the first petitioner to 12 states.

“The petitioners have established that the return of the 2nd respondent as the winner of the presidential election held on 25th day of February 2023, was unlawful and unconstitutional, having not secured one-quarter of the valid votes cast in the FCT, Abuja as required by the Constitution of the Federal of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended).

“The petitioners have proved that the second respondent was not duly elected by a majority of the lawful votes cast in the election. 41 (e). The respondents proffered very scanty evidence in defence and virtually abandoned their pleadings by not calling necessary witnesses, and not having any credible defence to the Petition. 6.02 We submit with all sense of responsibility that this Nation and its Judiciary stand at the threshold of history.”

Obi in how final address, argued that Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima were not qualified to contest in the election.

He aalso said INEC was wrong to have declared Tinubu the winner having not scored 25 per cent of the votes in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

“Hence, the deliberate amendment of the drafters of the 1999 Constitution, to include the additional requirement of 25 percent votes in the FCT must not be rendered redundant as it is possible that the drafters intended that the popularity of the winning candidate must extend not only to an appreciable geographical spread, but also to the FCT being the capital city and melting pot for all Nigerians and which would truly reflect the will of all Nigerians,” Obi said.

INEC had declared Tinubu winner of the presidential election with a total votes of 8,794,726 ahead of PDP’s 6,984,520 and LP’s 6,101,533. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) had 1,496,687 votes to place fourth.