Presidential Election Petitions Court Rejects APM’s Petition Against Tinubu and Shettima’s Qualification | Cliptv Online

By Abraham Adaranijo

The Presidential Election Petitions Court has declared that it does not possess the jurisdiction to hear the petition filed by the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) challenging the qualifications of President Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima. The court’s ruling, delivered on Wednesday, stated that the issues raised in the petition were pre-election matters and should have been addressed in a high court.

Justice Haruna Tsammani, who delivered the lead judgment, also noted that the 180-day timeframe within which to resolve the matter had already expired. He referenced the case of Alhassan and others versus Ishaku and others, asserting that an election tribunal lacks jurisdiction over the primaries of a political party.

Furthermore, Justice Tsammani explained that issues of qualification and disqualification are governed by the provisions of sections 131 and 137(1)(a)(j) of the Nigerian Constitution. He emphasized that the subject in question pertained to the internal affairs of a political party.

The APM had argued that Tinubu and Shettima were not validly nominated to contest the February 25 election. Their contention was based on the combined reading of sections 131(c) and 142(2) of the Nigerian Constitution, 1999, and Section 133 of the Electoral Act, which, they claimed, rendered the nominations invalid.

The APM’s argument revolved around the timeline from Kabiru Masari’s announcement of his withdrawal as the APC placeholder on June 24, 2022, to the date of Shettima’s nomination on July 14, 2022. They alleged that this timeline exceeded the 14-day window stipulated in Section 33 of the Electoral Act, 2022, for the replacement of a candidate for an election.

The court’s ruling represents a significant development in this legal dispute, effectively determining that such matters should be addressed at a high court level and are outside the jurisdiction of an election tribunal.