In an unexpected turn of events on Monday, the Allied People’s Movement (APM) filed a lawsuit challenging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s eligibility to run for office on February 25, 2023, and the Presidential Election lawsuit Court (PEPC) denied the APC and Tinubu’s request to stop it.
President Tinubu made an effort to have the APM’s petition dismissed by citing a Supreme Court judgment dated May 26, 2023 through his principal attorney, Wole Olanipekun.
However, this request was denied. According to Tinubu, in a lawsuit brought by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Supreme Court had addressed the lone issue presented in APM’s petition.
He argued that the Supreme Court’s decision should be applied in both letter and spirit to stop the APM’s petition.
However, Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, the presiding justice of the court, disagreed with Tinubu.
He also asserted that the APM should not be prevented from having a fair hearing.
Justice Tsammani advised Tinubu to postpone his objections to the hearing of the petition until the final address stage of the court’s proceedings.
The APC, represented by its lawyer Charles Edosomwen, raised similar objections against the petition, but these were also rejected by the PEPC for the same reason.
Earlier, the APM, represented by its lawyer Gideon Ijiagbonya, confirmed that they had received the Supreme Court ruling Tinubu intended to use to end its petition.
Upon reviewing the judgment, Ijiagbonya and his legal team concluded that the petition had merit and asked for its hearing.
The APM lawyer requested a postponement until June 26 to secure a crucial document from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to support its case.