Nigerian President Elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. image source : premiumtimesng.com
Mr. Tinubu’s victory is being challenged by five petitions filed at the Presidential Election Petition Court, and one of these petitions has been submitted by the AA (Allied Congress Party of Nigeria).
On Monday, the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja dismissed one of five petitions challenging Bola Tinubu‘s victory in the February 25 election.
The lawsuit was dismissed after the petitioner’s lawyer notified its withdrawal, and the court was presided over by Haruna Tsammani.
This was the first of the court’s five petitions to be scheduled for hearing. During its first session, the court informed all plaintiffs that it would secure justice for all parties engaged in the case, and lawyers reacted by pledging to work with the court.
Following the court’s ceremonial opening, the panel members took a brief pause before continuing to hear the AA’s case.
When the matter was called, however, there was some misunderstanding about the legal representative of the side.
Oba Maduabuchi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, was the first to announce his appearance for the AA party, but another lawyer, Malachi Umuebe, followed suit.
Despite the uncertainty, Mr. Maduabuchi maintained that he was the legal agent of the AA party, and the court agreed to dismiss Mr. Umuebe’s claim because he was not the one who submitted the petition.
Mr. Maduabuchi announced the withdrawal of the complaint shortly after being acknowledged as the AA party’s legal representative.
Wole Olanipekun, SAN, representing Mr. Tinubu, and Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, representing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), declared that they had no objections to the petition’s withdrawal application.
Though the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) allegedly refused to upload the name of the AA’s actual presidential candidate, Solomon-David Okanigbuan, to its portal for the February election, the AA’s petition was dismissed after the announcement of its withdrawal; however, the party has since asked the court to invalidate the results.
Adekunle Omo-Aje, the National Chairman of the Action Alliance, had earlier declared that Hamza Al-Mustapha, who was approved by INEC, was not the party’s legitimate presidential candidate.
Adekunle Omo-Aje made these remarks in the midst of a power struggle within his party that produced two viable presidential candidates, among them Hamza Al-Mustapha, who was approved by INEC.