The octopus of double nomination still awaits Tinubu at the Election Petition Tribunal when Peter Obi’s case comes up for determination.
By Israel Okah
The last has not been heard on the issue of double nomination of Kashim Shettima as both senatorial and vice presidential candidate by the All Progressives Congress, APC, for the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections.
The large expectation among the populace for a guilty verdict ended in anticlimax on Friday, May 26, as the Apex Court dismissed the suit filed by the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, on the technicality that the Party did not have a locus standi to institute the case.
However, the octopus of double nomination still awaits Tinubu and Shettima at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal when Peter Obi’s case comes up for determination.
The amended Electoral Act says you cannot challenge the what happened in the primary of a party unless you participated in the primary. That means that pre-election issues are internal party affairs.
The trial court had dismissed the case for lack of locus standi and the Court of Appeal affirmed it.
Likewise, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court held that PDP lacked the locus standi to institute the suit because It is not a member of APC and it was an internal party affair at that stage.
The Party had averred that Shettima’s nomination as Tinubu’s running mate was in breach of the provisions of sections 29(1), 33, 35, and 84(1)(2) of the Electoral Act, 2022.
However, Justice Adamu Jauro who read the Judgement, ruled that the suit lacked merit and PDP is “a meddlesome Interloper and a busy body as it is an internal affair of the APC.”
The Justices further held that the attitude of PDP is “sad”and amounts to misleading the court.
The Apex Court awarded ₦2 million cost against PDP.
In his reaction, Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of PDP in the February 25 election, said the verdict was not a setback for him
“The Supreme Court’s dismissal of the @OfficialPDPNig case is not a setback in my quest for justice. Our legal team is ready to vigorously demonstrate that the election held on February 25th was fraudulent, in violation of constitutional requirements and @inecnigeria’s guidelines, and that the proclaimed victor was unqualified to contest the election,” he tweeted.
“The battle for democracy and the establishment of a new order to stimulate Nigeria’s growth and development is one to which I am fully committed. I am not prepared to step away at this critical juncture when our nation stands at crossroads. We trust that our respected Justices will soon deliver the pronouncement that will serve as a fitting requiem for those who manipulate mandates.
“I urge my supporters to exercise patience and maintain peaceful conduct as we diligently pursue our litigation at the Presidential Election Tribunal Court.”
Tinubu and Shettima may have won round one from the pre-election angle but they have a lot to worry about as the same issue will be tried properly at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.
Peter Obi and Labour Party, in their petition, front loaded the issue for consideration. Paragraphs 22 and 23 of their petition averr that Shettima being the senatorial candidate of APC for Borno Central, on 14th July, 2022, allowed himself to be nominated the vice presidential candidate to Tinubu contrary to the provision of the Electoral Act 2022.
Particulars of Shettima as senatorial candidate were signed on 14th June, 2022 and received by INEC on 17th June; he was nominated vice presidential candidate on 14th July and withdrew as senatorial candidate on 15th July, 2022; which means that he was both senatorial and vice presidential candidate for 24 hours.
These are facts. Lawyers said Atiku and PDP erred by filing the suit at the pre-election stage when they are not members of APC. This technicality won the case for Tinubu and Shettima on Friday
But it will not win it at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal when it comes up in the case of Labour Party and Peter Obi.
So it is not yet Uhuru for Tinubu and Shettima until the final whistle at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.
