The Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja on Monday dismissed one of the five petitions challenging the victory of Bola Tinubu in the 25 February poll, just as there was confusion about the legal representative of the Action Alliance (AA) when the party’s case was called.
Penpushing reports that the five-member panel of the court headed by Haruna Tsammani dismissed the case after the petitioner’s lawyer announced its withdrawal, while a Senior Advocate of Nigeria(SAN),Oba Maduabuchi first announced appearance for the party, another lawyer, Malachi Umuebe, also announced appearance for the party.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria insisted that he was the party’s lawyer, while the court discountenanced Umuebe since he was not the one who filed the petition before the court, and record has it that it was the first among the five petitions received by the court to be called for hearing.
Penpushing further reports that shortly after the court recognized Maduabuchi, he announced the withdrawal of the case, and the lawyers, in response, gave their commitment to cooperate with the court.
The panel thereafter went on a short break after the ceremonial opening of the court and it is recalled that the court earlier held its inaugural sitting during which it assured all litigants that it would do justice to all parties to the case pending before it.
Penpushing also reports that the respondents’ lawyers – Wole Olanipekun,Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), representing Tinubu, and Abubakar Mahmoud, (Senior Advocate of Nigeria(SAN), representing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), said they had no objection against the application for the withdrawal of the petition.
The court therefore dismissed the petition, while is recalled that the Action Alliance has urged the court to nullify the polls owing to alleged refusal of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to upload the name of its actual presidential candidate Solomon-David Okanigbuan to its portal for the February poll.
Penpushing further reports that the National Chairman of Action Alliance (AA) Adekunle Omo-Aje, had said in January that Hamza Al-Mustapha, recognised by the electoral commission was not the authentic presidential candidate of the party.
Meanwhile, it is also recalled that the National Chairman of the Action Alliance (AA) spoke against the background of the leadership tussle rocking his party, which gave rise to the emergence of two presidential candidates.
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