Peter Obi, LP files 51 grounds of appeal against PEPC judgement at Supreme court

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the February 25 general election, Peter Obi, has filed 51 grounds of appeal before the Supreme Court seeking the nullification of Judgment of the Presidential Election Petition court and the election of President Bola Tinubu.

In his notice of appeal, Obi and his LP team of lawyers led by Livi Uzokwu (SAN) said the Presidential Election Petitions Court erred in law and thereby reached a wrong conclusion when it dismissed the petition he lodged to challenge the outcome of the presidential election.

He maintained that the five-member panel of the Tribunal led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, carried out a miscarriage of justice against him, when it held that he did not specify polling units where irregularities occurred during the election.

Other grounds for appeal

He further faulted the PEPC for dismissing his case on the premise that he did not specify the figures of votes or scores that were allegedly suppressed of inflated in favour of President Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Obi also accused the panel of erring in law when it relied on paragraph 4(1) (d) (2) and 54 of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act 2022 to strike out paragraphs of his petition.

While accusing the lower court of breaching his right to fair hearing, Obi insisted that evidence of his witnesses was wrongly dismissed as incompetent.

He told the apex court that the panel unjustly dismissed his allegation that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, uploaded 18, 088 blurred results on its IReV portal.

He further alleges that the tribunal ignored his allegation that Certified True Copies of documents that INEC issued to his legal team, comprised of 8, 123 blurred results that contained blank A4 papers, pictures and images of unknown persons, purporting same to be the CTC of polling units results of the presidential election.

What you should know

Recall that on September 6, 2023, the PEPC struck out the petition filed by Mr Peter Obi and the Labour Party against the election of President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima.
Justice Haruna Tsammani, who led the five-member panel of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) dismissed the petition on the grounds that it lacked merit, adding that the petitioners failed to prove allegations made against the election.

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