Supreme Court Swiftly Dismisses APM Appeal, Affirming President Tinubu’s Victory

The Supreme Court has swiftly dismissed an appeal by the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) challenging President Bola Tinubu’s electoral victory.

A seven-member panel of the Supreme Court headed by Justice John Okoro ruled against the appeal following the withdrawal of the suit by APM’s lawyer, Chukwuma Machukwu-Ume, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

The APM’s appeal centred on President Tinubu’s eligibility, with a specific focus on Vice President Kashim Shettima’s supposed dual nomination as a vice presidential candidate and senatorial candidate within the same election cycle.

However, a similar case brought by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima had already been resolved by the Supreme Court back in May.

In that prior case, the Supreme Court held that the PDP had no authority to challenge another party’s candidates’ internal qualifications. They also confirmed that Mr. Shettima had appropriately relinquished his nomination for the Borno South Senatorial District ticket before becoming Mr. Tinubu’s running mate.

During Monday’s proceedings, the Supreme Court panel directed the APM’s lawyer’s attention to the earlier judgement and discouraged him from pursuing the appeal based on the same grounds. The justices reminded him of the consequences of pursuing a frivolous case.

Despite the warnings from the bench, the APM’s lawyer was determined to proceed with the appeal. However, he eventually withdrew the case when it became clear that the Supreme Court was not going to entertain a redundant case.

The Supreme Court pointed out that the APM’s case was futile and questioned what the appellant hoped to achieve by attempting to nullify Mr. Tinubu’s election. In the last presidential election, the APM’s candidate received only 25,961 votes.

At the heart of the matter was the APM’s argument that Mr. Tinubu’s candidature was not valid because the APC initially fielded Mr. Shettima as a vice presidential candidate for the election.

Mr. Tinubu had initially named Ibrahim Masari as a placeholder for the vice presidential candidate position, later announcing Mr. Shettima as his running mate.

The APM sought to invalidate all the votes received by Mr. Tinubu and have his declaration as the president-elect annulled by INEC. They argued that this would lead to Atiku being declared the president-elect, as he had received the second-highest number of votes.

The Supreme Court’s dismissal of the appeal solidifies President Tinubu’s electoral victory and puts this matter to rest.

Source: Premium Times