THE counsel to President Bola Ahmed and Vice President Kashim Shettima, Wole Olanipekun wants the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) in Abuja to bar Obi from contesting in another election if the court annuls the February 25 election.
In his final address to the tribunal dated July 14, Olanipekun asked the tribunal to dismiss the Labour Party (LP) and Obi’s petition.
According to him, Obi’s name was not in the membership register of the party when he contested the election, as Obi was still part of the PDP.
Olanipekun said Obi’s petition itself and the evidence presented shows it is an abuse of the court process, and stated that the testimonies of their witnesses were “frivolous, bogus and based on hearsay.”
“Based on the arguments and submissions contained in this address, we urge this Honourable court to dismiss this petition as totally lacking in merit, substance and bona fide,” he stated.
He stated further: “Obi is constitutionally barred from participating in any election, in the very unlikely event that the election of February 25, 2023 is voided, as the only candidates constitutionally prescribed to contest any subsequent election shall be Tinubu and the candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar who came second, by scoring the next majority of votes in the highest number of States (19 states), to the 1st petitioner’s 16 states, and also coming second by plurality of votes, having scored 6,984,520, far and above 1st petitioner’s 6,101,533 votes.
“The appellant woefully failed to realise that judges do not act like the oracles of life, which is often engaged in crystal gazing and thereafter would proclaim a new Oba in succession to a deceased Oba. Judges cannot perform miracles in the handling of civil claims, and at least of all manufacture evidence for the purpose of assisting a plaintiff win his case.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on March 1, declared Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the 2023 presidential election, with a total vote cast of 8,794,726.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Atiku Abubakar placed second with 6,984,520 votes, while Obi was placed third with 6,101,533 votes.
Abubakar and Obi filed different petitions before the tribunal, seeking the nullification of the poll majorly on grounds of non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2022.
