BREAKING: Judge orders President-elect Tinubu to submit his responses to the Peter Obi and Atiku application

The Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja on Tuesday ordered the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, to file their responses to all pending applications in the case instituted by the Allied Peoples Movement (APM).  

Nigeria’s electoral commission, INEC, declared Mr Tinubu winner of the 25 February presidential election.

On Tuesday, during a pre-hearing session of the court, a five-member panel led by Haruna Tsammani presided over the APM’s petition and received submissions from lawyers representing the parties involved.

The panel then directed all parties to file their responses to all pending applications before the next hearing date. The petition was adjourned by Mr. Tsammani until Thursday for the pre-hearing session to continue. 

During the pre-hearing session on Tuesday, Oyetola Atoyebi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) representing APM, informed the court that his client had responded to questions related to the pre-hearing session.

Abubakar Mahmoud, a SAN representing INEC, stated that the commission had filed its responses to the pre-hearing questions on May 5th. “We have three applications listed, and we will move the applications at the appropriate time,” Mr. Mahmoud added.

In its petition, APM is urging the court to nullify “all the votes scored” by Mr. Tinubu in the presidential election, citing his disqualification as a candidate of the APC.

The party is seeking a declaration from the court that the presidential candidate of a rival party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar (who is also pursuing a separate petition), should be declared as the winner of the election