The main opposition parties in Nigeria have rejected a court ruling that upheld the election victory of President Bola Tinubu.
The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) ruled on Wednesday that the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and the Labour Party (LP) and its candidate, Peter Obi, had no merit.
The five-member panel unanimously dismissed the petitions, saying that the petitioners had failed to prove the allegations of irregularities in the election.
Atiku’s lead counsel, Chris Uche, said he had received instructions from his client to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.
“The judgment has been delivered but we have not received justice,” Uche said. “Luckily, the law has given us leverage to go on appeal to the Supreme Court. We have instructions from our clients to go to the Supreme Court. The struggle continues.”
The LP’s legal adviser, Kehinde Edun, also expressed disappointment with the ruling, saying that the tribunal had been unfair to the party.
“We already had a premonition that this might happen,” Edun said. “For example, where the court was saying the statements of some key witnesses should have been filed along with the petitions. How can that be? Subpoena is an order of court by which the court has compelled a witness to come and give evidence before or as of the time you are filing the petition.”
