The Presidential Election Petitions Court has dismissed a petition filed by Allied Peoples Movement (APM) challenging the eligibility of President Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima.
The five-member panel, headed by Haruna Tsammani, who delivered the judgement acknowledged that the petition centered on the ground of alleged double nomination of Mr Tinubu’s running mate, Kashim Shettima, as a vice-presidential candidate and Borno Central senator, lacked merit therefore the tribunal held that it lacks the jurisdiction to hear the petition.
Background
APM had asserted that Tinubu and Shettima were not properly selected as candidates for the February 25 election.
They however argued that the collective interpretation of sections 131(c) and 142(2) of the Nigerian Constitution, 1999, along with Section 133 of the Electoral Act, rendered their nominations invalid.
Their argument centers on the timeline from Kabiru Masari’s withdrawal as the APC candidate on June 24, 2022, to the date when Shettima’s name was submitted to INEC on July 14, 2022.
This period of 21 days, they contend, violated Section 33 of the Electoral Act, 2022, which stipulates a 14-day window for the replacement of a candidate in an election.
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Court’s decision
In the lead judgment delivered on Wednesday, Justice Tsammani stated that the tribunal is not empowered to address the issues raise as they pertain to pre-election matters that should have been handled by a high court.
He added that the issue of qualification of a candidate of a political party was not an all-comers’ affair and that the internal affairs of a party, such as the nomination of a candidate, was not the business of another political party.
He further noted that the 180-day timeframe for resolving this matter had expired.