The President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has submitted to the Supreme Court that the petition filed by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against the February 25 election was a mere spectacle with elements of suspense and evasion.
The President has requested that the Apex Court dismiss the appeal filed against the September 6 judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Court. One of the reasons cited for the dismissal of Atiku’s appeal is that it is vexatious, ambiguous, unjustified, and lacks a clear focus or objective. In his response to Atiku’s appeal, filed by Wole Olanipekun SAN on his behalf, Tinubu specifically argued that the case of the former Vice President lacks merit and cannot achieve the desired outcome sought by the PDP presidential candidate. He asserted that he defeated Atiku and the PDP in almost all the states of the federation, leading the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare him the winner after the lawful collation of the election results in the presence of the appellant’s agents.
Tinubu refuted all the allegations made against him by Atiku, including malpractices, noncompliance with electoral laws, and non-qualifications. He emphasized that the lower court had dismissed these allegations due to lack of merit.
The President also questioned the validity of Atiku’s petition, arguing that the statements presented as facts were merely hearsay and held no legal value.
Tinubu stated that although Atiku claimed to have won the majority of the lawful votes, he failed to provide the actual figure he obtained in the election.
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He further contended that the so-called expert report presented by Atiku was irrelevant as it was produced outside the legally stipulated timeframe, rendering it inadmissible in any court of law.
Tinubu drew the Supreme Court’s attention to the fact that Atiku’s witnesses had admitted that the election was free and fair, except for the failure of INEC to transmit the results electronically as promised.
The President maintained that the non-transmission of election results electronically did not violate any laws, as the decision to use the electronic system was merely a promise made by the electoral body.
Meanwhile, Tinubu’s response did not address the alleged new evidence obtained by Atiku from the Chicago State University.
As of now, the Supreme Court has not scheduled a date for the hearing of the appeal with the reference SC/CS/935/2023.