By Deborah Onyofufeke and Cross Udo, Abuja
The Supreme Court yesterday upheld President Bola Tinubu’s victory at the 2023 presidential election and the judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Court that affirmed him the valid winner of the February 25 presidential poll.
The seven-member panel of justices of the Supreme Court in its lead judgement delivered by Justice Inyang Okoro in Abuja dismissed both the appeals of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Gregory Obi for lacking merit.
The apex court dismissed the appeal against Tinubu by the opposition parties’ candidates that had alleged fraud in the election results, electoral law violations, and Tinubu’s ineligibility to run as President.
Noting that Atiku and Peter Obi had similar appeals, the Supreme Court Panel ruled unanimously that their appeals lacked merit.
The appeals summarised that Tinubu’s election be overturned because the electoral commission failed to electronically transmit results from polling stations to an online portal, undermining their authenticity.
The apex court, however, held that the appeal of the applicants did not prove that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not substantially comply with provisions of the Electoral Act, in the conduct of the election.
The Supreme Court held that section 185(1) of the Evidence Act provided that an election should not be liable to be invalidated when alleged non-compliance did not substantially affect the outcome of an election.
The court held that evidence contained in the record of the appeal showed that the Appellants abandoned the duty imposed on them by the law to not only prove the alleged non-compliance but to establish that failure of INEC to transmit results of the election through its IReV portal, influenced the outcome of the presidential poll.
The Supreme Court said it had in past judgements, made it clear that there was a difference between the election result collation system and the IReV portal.
“Where the IReV portal fails, it does not stop the collation which up till the last election was manually done,” the court added.
The apex court, however, further said that INEC’s failure to electronically transmit the results of the election in real-time caused doubt in the minds of electorates as they could not monitor the numbers in real-time as expected.
“Truth must be told, the non-transmission of results to the IReV portal may also reduce the confidence of the voting population in the electoral process.”
The court held that the unavailability of results on INEC’s IReV portal for whatever reason, is not enough reason for an election to be nullified.
It held that the result announced by INEC was presumed correct in the absence of “any rival or alternative result.”
“The figure before us shows that the 2nd Respondent won the highest number of votes and was duly declared winner.”
Atiku and Obi also appealed that Tinubu’s election be upturned for failing to secure 25 per cent of the vote in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The apex court in its response to this dismissed it as a non-issue describing it as misconceived and misplaced.
The justices of the apex court reiterated the response of the PEPC on this insisting that FCT does not have a status that is more special than that of the 36 states of the federation.
The court also agreed with the striking out of evidence of some of the witnesses who testified for Atiku and Obi at the lower court.
The court held that most of the witnesses gave inadmissible hearsay evidence.
“The Appellants did not present any evidence to warrant the interference of the findings of the lower court,” the court held.
On the issue that President Tinubu was involved in a drug-related case in the USA that led to the forfeiture of $460, 000, the Supreme Court held that Tinubu raised the issue when the respondents had already filed their process.
It held that the action denied the Respondents the right to a fair hearing.
“The ruling of the lower court is unassailable and this court will not interfere,” it held.
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The court also rejected Atiku’s bid to introduce new evidence (Chicago State University Certificate) to prove that President Tinubu submitted a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission to be eligible to participate in the election.
The court stated that the constitutionally allowed period for such evidence to be admitted had since elapsed.
It further noted that section 285(5) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, expressly gave the PEPC, 180 days to hear and determine in writing, all petitions arising from the presidential election.
The court further held that given that the PEPC, which sat as the court of first instance in the presidential dispute, had since delivered its verdict, no provision of the law would allow the admittance of any other evidence at the appeal stage.
The court also said that the 180 days period given to the tribunal by the Constitution, has since elapsed since September 17.
The court held that it no longer has the requisite jurisdiction to admit the document.
“This court cannot do what the trial court is no longer constitutionally permitted to do and the applicants can no longer invoke the provision of Section 22 of the Supreme Court Act”.
Consequently, the court resolved all the issues that Atiku raised in his petition, against him.
Justice Okoro speaking on Obi’s appeal said the only issue in Obi’s appeal not covered in the Atiku’s appeal was the question over the nomination of Vice President Kashim Shettima.
He said the issue concerning Shettima’s alleged double nomination was earlier resolved by the Supreme Court in its judgement delivered on May 9 in the appeal by the PDP against INEC and three others.
Justice Okoro said the issue ought not to have been brought before the Supreme Court again by the appellants who were already aware of that judgment.
“On the whole, having resolved all the issues against the Appellants, it is my view that there is no merit in this appeal and it is hereby dismissed.
“Judgement of the lower court delivered on September 6 is hereby affirmed. I shall make no order as to cost,” the Supreme Court held.
It will be recalled that INEC had on March 1, announced that Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, won the presidential contest, ahead of 17 other candidates that participated in the poll.
It declared that Tinubu garnered a total of 8,794,726 votes to defeat his two major opponents, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who came second with a total of 6,984,520 votes, and Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party, who came third with a total of 6,101,533 votes.
*It’s time to move on, build Nigeria, says President
Reacting to the judgement yesterday, President Tinubu said the court has done justice to all issues put up for consideration in the petitions on the merits of the law, without fear or favour.
The President also said despite the fusillade of pressure and attempts at intimidation by some political actors, the judiciary demonstrated its unequivocal commitment to upholding the rule of law for the upliftment and defence of humanity.
Tinubu stated this while reacting to the Supreme Court judgement that upheld his victory at the February 25 presidential election.
The President in a statement titled: “It is time for us to build our great nation together, said, “I welcome the verdict of the Justice John I. Okoro-led Panel of the Supreme Court on the Presidential Election petitions filed by the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party, challenging the ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.
“The court has done justice to all issues put up for consideration in the petitions on the merits of the law, without fear or favour.
“There is no doubt, with the profound judgment of today, that our electoral jurisprudence and constitutional democracy are further consolidated and embedded more indelibly in our national identity because of the diligence and undaunted professionalism of the Honourable Justices who presided over the matter.
“While the verdict of today has laid to rest the agitating discourse over who truly won the 2023 Presidential election and met the constitutional requirements as laid out by law, I want to reiterate that my faith in our nation’s judiciary has never been shaken, not even for a moment, because I know that our hallowed courts of law will not fail to administer justice to all Nigerians in all matters and at all times.
“Despite the fusillade of pressure and attempts at intimidation by some political actors, the judiciary demonstrated its unequivocal commitment to upholding the rule of law for the upliftment and defence of humanity.
“It was affirmed once more today, that my party, the governing All Progressives Congress, had freely and fairly won the popular mandate of Nigerians, which has since given rise to my leadership of this great nation at a tumultuous period of unprecedented reforms in our history as a nation.
“With deep gratitude to God Almighty, I solemnly and humbly accept today’s judicial victory with an intense sense of responsibility and a burning desire to meet the great challenges confronting our people.”
Continuing, he said, “The victory of today has further energised and strengthened my commitment to continue to serve all Nigerians of all political persuasions, tribes, and faiths, with honour and total respect for the diverse opinions and uniting values of our citizens.
“Our Renewed Hope agenda for a greater and prosperous Nigeria has further gained momentum and I will continue to work from morning to night, every single day, to build a country that meets our collective yearnings and aspirations.
“We are all members of one household, and this moment demands that we continue to work and build our country together. The strength of our diversity and the great citizenship that binds us must now compel us forward in directing the energy of our people toward building a virile, stronger, united, and more prosperous country.
“In the days and months ahead, I trust that the spirit of patriotism will be elevated into supporting our administration to improve the living conditions of Nigerians. I am prepared to welcome the contributions of all Nigerians to foster and strengthen our collective progress.
“I send my immense gratitude to all Nigerians for the mandate to serve our country. I promise again to meet and exceed your expectations in service delivery and good governance, working with my team and trusting in the grace of God. May God continue to bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
