Election 2023: Tribunal Consolidates PDP, LP, APM’s Petition Against Tinubu, APC
Says hearing commences May 30
BY SEGUN ADEBAYO – Despite objections raised by the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) against the three different petitions seeking to nullify the 2023 presidential poll’s results, the Presidential Election Petition Court has consolidated all the cases filed by the petitioners, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), and the Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM), and their presidential candidates.
Also, the court has fixed Tuesday, May 30 for the commencement of trial in the three petitions during which the petitioners will be expected to call their first sets of witnesses.
Chairman of the Tribunal, Justice Haruna Tsamani, made the declaration on Tuesday while presenting its pre-hearing report to all parties involved in the cases.
The five-member panel of the Tribunal held that justice of the cases demanded that they should be consolidated and dealt with as one petition since they all relate to the same election.
The PDP, LP and APM are challenging the February 25 presidential election outcome in which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) flag-bearer, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as the winner.
In its declaration, the electoral umpire said Tinubu polled a total of 8,794,726 votes with PDP’s Atiku Abubakar amassing 6,984,520 votes while the Labour Party (LP) Standard bearer, Peter Obi, placed third with a tally of 6,101,533.
Meanwhile, Tuesday’s proceeding at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, had the Tribunal giving the Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, three weeks to prove their case against the President-elect, Bola Tinubu.
Though five petitions were initially filed to challenge Tinubu’s return as the winner, the Action Alliance (AA) however withdrew its case on May 8 while the Action Peoples Party (APP) did the same two days later.
