The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) has filed ten grounds of appeal with the Supreme Court, challenging the verdict of the Presidential Election Petition Court and requesting that President Bola Tinubu’s election be annulled.
The APM is requesting the Supreme Court to throw aside the ruling of the Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC) for many legal mistakes in a notice of appeal submitted by its new lawyer Chukwuma – Machukwu Ume.
It stated that Articles 131 and 142 (1) of the 1999 Constitution are integrally intertwined and that neither can be restricted as a pre-election matter because these requirements are prerequisites to being elected to the post of President.
The appellant’s petition was not based only on nomination, but rather on the fact that President Tinubu ran for president without a legal running partner.
The withdrawal of Ibrahim Kabir Masari, as well as the expiration of the 14-day period for altering, withdrawing, or dead candidates under Section 33 of the Electoral Act 2022, rendered Tinubu’s election and return unlawful.
According to the party, the PEPC abdicated its duty and jurisdiction to hear and decide APM’s question of whether President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Kashim Shettima were “validly elected” to the offices of President and Vice President under the Constitution, as stipulated by Section 239(1) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
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.
It stated that the lower court’s approach was to evade the substantial issue of lawfully elected by imputing technical elevation pre-election concerns.
As a result, APM petitioned the Supreme Court to hear the appeal and rule that Tinubu was ineligible to run as APC’s presidential candidate because he violated Section 142 (1) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
The party also asked for a declaration that Tinubu’s election as President-elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was null and illegal.
That the withdrawal of the fifth respondent (Kabir Masari) as Tinubu’s Vice-Presidential candidate by the operation of the law amounted to automatic withdrawal and invalidation of the All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate.
As a result, APM requested an order nullifying and voiding all votes cast by the APC in the February 25 presidential election, as well as an order instructing INEC to declare the second highest vote total as the victor of the presidential election.
