UPDATE: Disqualify Peter Obi, he’s PDP member, Tinubu tells Tribunal

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 presidential election, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has asked the Presidential Election Petition Court to disqualify the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Gregory Obi, as he was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) thirty days before submission of the comprehensive register of the Party prior to the party’s presidential primary election.

Tinubu made the application in his response to the petition filed by Mr Peter Obi and the Labour Party before the Tribunal, which has the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Senator Shettima Kashim and the All Progressives Congress as Respondents.

In reply to Obi’s petition, Tinubu also urged the Court, by way of preliminary objection, to dismiss or strike out the petition wholly or in part as may be appropriate.

According to him, Obi lacked the requisite locus standi to initiate/institute the instant petition as he was not a member of PDP at least 30 days to the party’s presidential primary, to be validly sponsored by the party.

He noted that the Petitioner was a member of Peoples Democratic Party till 24th May, 2022.

“The 1st Petitioner was not duly and validly nominated or sponsored by the 2nd Petitioner and as such the 1st Petitioner could not have been sponsored by the 2nd Petitioner (LP) to contest the election into the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria held on the 25th day of February, 2023, on its platform, in that the 1st Petitioner (Peter Obi) at all material time was not a registered member of the 2nd petitioner,” he said.

He further averred that Obi was “screened as a presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party on April 2022.

“All the Presidential Candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were screened on 29th April, 2022, an exercise which the 1st Petitioner herein participated and cleared to contest while being a member of the Party.

“By section 77(3) of the Electoral Act, 2022, the 2nd Petitioner is mandated to have submitted its comprehensive register of members to the 1st Respondent (INEC) 30 days before its presidential primary.

“That is to say the said register of members must have been submitted to the 1st Respondent on or before 30th April, 2022.

“The 1st Petitioner lacks the locus standi to challenge the outcome of the Presidential Election held on 27th February, 2023 as the 2nd Petitioner did not present a valid candidate for that election.,” he insisted.

He further argued that Obi’s petition is improperly constituted by the non- joinder of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who are necessary parties to be affected by the reliefs sought therein.

“The Petitioner on their own stated that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar came second in the Presidential election with 6,984,520 votes as against the petitioners who came third with 6,101,533 votes;

“Alhaji Atiku Abubakar must be heard before his votes can be discountenanced by the Tribunal.

“The petition is incompetent for failure to join as a party to the petition the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar the 1st runner up and his political party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as a Respondent whose right would be affected by the reliefs sought in the petition,” he stated. Read more.

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