Peter Obi Takes Case to Supreme Court, Rejects Tribunal Verdict

Nigeria’s Labour Party presidential candidate in the February 2023 presidential elections, Peter Obi, is heading to the Supreme Court in his quest to challenge the electoral victory of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the ruling of the Elections Petition Court.

The Presidential Elections Petition Court (PEPC), in a ruling delivered Wednesday, September 6, 2023, upheld Bola Tinubu’s victory, dismissing a petition filed by Peter Obi, seeking to nullify the victory

At a press conference in Onitsha, Anambra State, on Thursday, September 7, Peter Obi said he disagreed with the ruling of the PEPC, indicating that he will be approaching the highest court of the land.

Yesterday, September 6, 2023, the Presidential Election Petition Court finally delivered its long-awaited judgements on the Petitions challenging the outcome of the presidential election held on February 25, 2023. This judgement was delivered within the statutory time frame under the extant statutes. We acknowledge the Court’s contributions to due process and the seeming attempt to strengthen our democracy,” Obi said

“The PEPC has rendered its judgement, but that esteemed body is not the final arbiter. The responsibility now falls on the Supreme Court. I do know that judgement is not coterminous with justice,” he went on, imploring “Nigerians to remain focused, steadfast, and peaceful; abide by the rule of law, and understand that this matter has not reached its logical conclusion.”

Sounding confident, the man who came third according to the official results of the last presidential elections said, “Our legal team has already received our firm instruction to file an appeal against the decision. I shall not relent in the quest for justice, not necessarily for myself but indeed for our teeming supporters all over the country, whose mandate to us at the polls was regrettably truncated by INEC.”

Holding firm that the conduct of the polls was not transparent and fair, Mr. Obi noted that “The strength and value of our democracy reside in solid national institutions and our confidence in them. Electoral litigation will be almost unnecessary and nonexistent if the Independent National Electoral Commission discharges its statutory functions creditably, transparently, and with discernible fairness. When that body fails, as it did recently, thus subverting the will of Nigerian voters, recourse to the judiciary becomes imperative, as is now the case.”

It should be recalled that the case brought before the Elections Petition Court was dismissed for lack of merit.