From Victor Osula, Abuja
The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, PEPT, sitting in Abuja to deliver judgment on the election petitions challenging the election of President Bola Tinubu by the presidential candidates for the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, the Labour Party’s Peter Obi, and the Allied Peoples Movement, on Wednesday struck out the APM’s suit for lack of merit with no locus
According to Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Haruna Tsammani who read the judgement, starting with the fourth suit, (APM) stated that of the APM, “Case of disqualification of Shettima to contest as running mate to Bola Tinubu is a pre-election issue, therefore incompetent and accordingly struck out. Besides, the Presidential candidate picks his Running Mate, according to the law. This petition lacks no merit whatsoever.”
He said the fifth respondent, Kabiru Masari, who stood in briefly as place holder before Shettima’s nomination as VP ought not to have been joined in the petition. Justice Tsammani declared that there was no claim against him and said that his name should be struck out.
Explaining that the petition should have been filed fourteen days to the polls, Justice Tsammani who stated that the suit was incompetent, added that the APM petitioner has no locus standi to challenge the nomination of candidate of another political party. “The petition is also struck out on the ground of lack of locus standi to raise issue of valid nomination of Kashim Shettima,” he said.
