…By Larry John for TDPel Media.
The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal has dismissed the petition filed by the Action Alliance (AA) challenging the victory of Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the presidential election.
The party had earlier withdrawn its petition against Tinubu’s victory at the pre-hearing session of the tribunal on Monday.
The leader of the legal team of the party, Oba Maduabuchi (SAN), said the decision to withdraw the petition followed the party’s decision not to continue with the case.
After declaring the intention of the Action Alliance to withdraw the petition, none of the representatives of the other parties expressed opposition to the move.
The AA’s presidential candidate, David Okonigbuan, had brought the petition against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), APC, Tinubu, and Hamza Al Mustapha, challenging his exclusion from the election.
In the petition, Okonigbuan stated that the party also fielded Al-Mustapha as the presidential candidate who was listed by INEC.
In his ruling, the presiding justice, Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, held that the dismissal was in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
This decision means that Tinubu’s victory in the presidential election is upheld, and the AA’s petition challenging his win is no longer in contention.
In another development, the court has moved on to the petition by the Action Peoples Party (APP), marked: CA/PEPC/02/2023.
It remains to be seen what the outcome of this petition will be and whether it will affect the overall result of the presidential election.