The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) has filed an appeal before the Supreme Court, challenging the decision of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), which dismissed its petition and affirmed the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the party, in its 10-ground appeal, argues that the PEPC erred in law in holding that sections 131 and 142(1) of the 1999 Constitution are pre-election matters and that the appellant’s petition was founded solely on nomination.
The APM contends that its petition raises the question of whether President Tinubu contested the presidential election without a lawful running mate following the withdrawal of Ibrahim Kabir Masari and the expiry of the 14 days permissible for changing, withdrawing, or dead candidates under Section 33 of the Electoral Act 2022.
The party argues that the PEPC abandoned its duty and jurisdiction of hearing and determining whether President Tinubu and Kashim Shettima were “validly elected” to the office of President and Vice President under the Constitution as stipulated by Section 239(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
The APM contends that “validly elected” encompasses being qualified to contest the election, adding that a valid election includes the threshold qualifications and disqualification as stipulated in the Constitution.
The party, therefore, prays the Supreme Court to allow the appeal and hold that Tinubu was not qualified to contest as the presidential candidate of APC, having violated the provisions of Section 142(1) of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
The APM also prayed for a declaration that the return of Tinubu by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the President-elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is null, void of no legal effect whatsoever.
It said the withdrawal of the 5th respondent (Kabir Masari) as Vice Presidential candidate to Tinubu by the operations of the law amounted to automatic withdrawal and invalidation of the candidate of All Progressive Congress (APC).
APM, therefore, seeks an order nullifying and voiding all votes scored by APC in the February 25 presidential election and a further order directing INEC to return the second-highest score at the election (Atiku Abubakar) as the winner of the presidential election.
