Obi, LP file appeal to challenge Tinubu’s victory at tribunal

Peter Obi and the Labour Party (LP) have filed an appeal at the supreme court against the judgement of the presidential election petition tribunal which affirmed the election of President Bola Tinubu.

The 73-page notice of appeal filed on Tuesday is premised on 51 grounds.

Obi and his party had filed a petition challenging the outcome of the February 25 poll.

Some of the issues raised against Tinubu included his failure to secure 25 percent of votes cast in the federal capital territory (FCT), and his forfeiture of $460,000 in the US.

They also challenged the failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to transmit election results electronically.

However, a five-member panel of the presidential tribunal led by Haruna Tsammani, had on September 6, dismissed Obi’s petition.

The tribunal held that the three different petitions filed by Peter Obi and his party, Atiku Abubakar and the PDP, and the Allied Peoples Movement (AMP) were “devoid of merit”.

In the notice of appeal, Obi and his party insisted that the tribunal erred in its findings that Tinubu won the election by the majority of lawful votes cast.

They also faulted the panel for striking out several paragraphs in their petitions.

The appellants said the panel was wrong to have held that they failed to prove their allegation of non-compliance with the Electoral Act.

Consequently, they are praying the supreme court to “set aside the perverse judgement of the court below” and “grant the reliefs sought in the petition either in the main or in the alternative”.