The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) has commenced its initial session, which precedes the actual hearing of petitions aiming to overturn the outcome of Nigeria’s 2023 Presidential Election. During this session, a five-member panel of Justices of the Court of Appeal, who will hear and determine all five petitions challenging the declaration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the presidential election, were unveiled.
The panel will be headed by Justice Haruna Tsammani, Presiding Justice of the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, and also includes Justice Stephen Adah (PJ Asaba Division), Justice Monsurat Bolaji-Yusuf (Asaba Division), Justice Boluokuromo Ugo (Kano Division), as well as Justice Abba Mohammed (Ibadan Division).
In his opening speech, Presiding Justice Tsammani warned lawyers representing all the petitioners to avoid making sensational comments and stated that the court would not tolerate time-wasting tactics and technicalities. He urged them to consider the safety and interests of the country, which he said were paramount. Tsammani added that lawyers should avoid unnecessary time-wasting applications and objections so that the court could focus on the substance of the case, rather than unnecessary technicalities.
Lead counsel to the President-elect, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, assured the court of the maximum corporation of his team, saying there was a need for the matter to be determined without recourse to unnecessary technicalities. Likewise, head of the team of lawyers representing the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, said they would do everything possible to assist the court in doing justice.
Dr. Livy Uzoukwu, SAN, who is representing the Labour Party and its candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, noted that the petitions were of great public interest and stated that “at the end of the day, I am very confident that the petitions will impact Nigeria’s jurisprudence and constitutionalism.” He added that they would do everything possible to assist the court.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), through its lawyer, Mr. A. B. Mahmood, SAN, expressed confidence in the court’s ability to do justice on all the petitions before it, stating that “we are confident that at the end of the day, justice will be done.”
The court stated that it would only conduct pre-hearing sessions on three of the petitions, while the remaining two would be heard on Tuesday. The three petitions that the court will hear are those filed by the Action Alliance (AA) against INEC, the All Peoples Party (APP), as well as the petition by Peter Obi and the Labour Party. The remaining petitions are those filed by the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and Atiku of the PDP.
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