May 30, 2023
Hearing in the election petition of the Allied Peoples Movement, (APM) was stalled at the Presidential Election Petition Court, (PEPC), due to a judgment of the Supreme Court on a similar issue.
At the resumed hearing of the petition on Tuesday, Mr. Wole Olanipekun, SAN, counsel to President Bola Tinubu told the court that the petition challenging his client’s declaration as president on grounds of place holder had been resolved by the Supreme Court.
Olanipekun said that a judgement of the apex court of May 26 delivered in a suit instituted by the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) marked SC/CV/501/2023 against the All Progressives Congress, (APC) on similar grounds had taken care of the issue of place holder.
Olanipekun argued that the APM’S petition was similar to the case taken to the Supreme Court by PDP and dismissed on the grounds that PDP had no business interfering in the internal affairs of other parties.
He submitted that the APM’S petition was predicated on an internal affair of the APC and that the Supreme Court’s latest judgment had taken life out of the petition.
He told the court that he would produce a copy of the judgment within two days to the court for perusal on the effects on the APM’S petition.
Counsel to the APM, Mr Shehu Abubakar prayed the court for an adjournment based on the submissions of Olanipekun to allow his team apply for a certified true copy of the judgement in order to study it and take an informed decision.
Counsel for the APC, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, SAN and counsel for the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), Mr Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN did not oppose the request for an adjournment.
Chairman of the Court, Justice Haruna Tsammani granted the request and adjourned the matter until Friday.
The apex court while dismissing PDP’S case described the party as a busy body and a meddlesome interloper and imposed a fine of N2 million on the party for meddling in the internal affairs of the APC.(NAN)
