The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) has upheld the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election, dismissing the petitions filed by two opposition candidates, Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP).
The tribunal delivered its judgement on Wednesday, September 6, 2023, after six hours of reading out its findings and conclusions.
The petitioners had challenged the declaration of Tinubu as the winner of the February 29 election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), alleging irregularities, malpractices, and non-compliance with the electoral laws.
They also claimed that Tinubu failed to score 25% of the votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which they argued was a constitutional requirement to win the election.
However, the tribunal rejected all their arguments and evidence, saying they failed to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt. The tribunal said that the FCT does not have any special status and is equal to any other state in Nigeria, and that votes cast in the FCT do not carry any extra weight compared to those cast in other states.
The ruling on the same day he marked 100 days in office will be a huge relief to President Tinubu who will now keep an eye on the Supreme Court where his opponents are likely to appeal against this judgement.
Tribunal judgement
The court affirmed Tinubu’s election as valid and lawful.
The petitioners can appeal to the country’s Supreme Court to overturn the tribunal’s ruling. Any appeal must be within 60 days of the date of the tribunal judgement.
Tinubu, who was sworn in as Nigeria’s president on May 29, 2023, was in India preparing to take part in the G20 summit when the tribunal delivered its verdict. He is Nigeria’s first president from the south-west region since 1999. He is also a former governor of Lagos state and a leader of the APC.
