APC roars as Supreme Court postpones ruling on Atiku and Obi’s appeal

In the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) to overturn the Court of Appeal’s ruling upholding President Bola Tinubu’s victory in the 2023 presidential election, the Supreme Court postponed its decision yesterday.

After receiving the submissions from both parties, John Inyang Okoro, the lead justice of the panel considering the appeal, reserved decision.

This was announced at the same time that the All Progressives Congress (APC) ruled out the PDP presidential candidate winning in the Supreme Court.

“Sincerely, Atiku Abubakar presented the court with a “body of evidence” that proved nothing, the APC claimed in a statement released by Felix Morka, National Publicity Secretary: “Court cases are won on the strength of cogent, credible, compelling or substantial evidence, not on hollow, implausible, capricious tales and fabrications.”

It went on, saying, “PDP must also be utterly foolish to think that it can accomplish in court what it rightfully failed to accomplish in the polls. It is absurd and demeaning to the millions of Nigerians who cast ballots in large numbers for the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its nominee, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to say that the election was “manipulated” against its candidate.

Chief Akin Olujimi (SAN) announced legal representation for the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the meeting, while Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) represented President Bola Tinubu as the second respondent. Chief Chris Uche, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), represented the appellants. Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN) announced the appearance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (the first respondent).

“We are praying for an order of leave to present fresh evidence on appeal, pursuant to the powers of the Supreme Court,” Uche stated. “We particularly want to present the oath-taking depositions from Chicago State University.”

He begged the court to hear their appeal, fulfill the requested prayers, and remove Tinubu from office.

Justice Okoro emphasized the case’s significant public relevance. He questioned whether Atiku’s requested proof was, nevertheless, not intended to support a criminal charge.

Okoro stated: “This is a criminal offense, which ought to be resolved beyond a reasonable doubt.” He was referring to the conflicting documentation regarding the CSU certificate. I’m not sure how we can settle this when you notice these kinds of differences.

This is a major issue. The hard part is not accepting the paper; rather, it’s what to do with it afterward. Will we create a charge asking someone to tell us whether they forged these documents? Nevertheless, there is no room for covering anything because our goal is to carry out justice.

Mahmoud, Olanipekun, and Olujimi asked the court to reject the appeal as well as the motion for being without merit.

In addition, the court deferred ruling in Peter Obi and his party’s appeal against the tribunal’s ruling upholding Tinubu’s election.

Following their consideration of the parties’ submissions, the panel of seven men announced that they will be notified of the date of decision.

Read Also: Labour Party knocks Tinubu over ministerial list

The Allied People’s Movement (APM) filed a petition challenging Tinubu’s announcement as the election’s victor, but the Supreme Court denied it in the interim. This came when the attorney applied to APM for a withdrawal.