Peter Obi, the Labour Party‘s presidential candidate, has appealed to the Supreme Court.
Obi is seeking to overturn the Presidential Election Petition Court’s (PEPC) judgment that affirmed President Bola Tinubu’s election.
The appeal was filed within 14 days from the date of the PEPC judgment, which ended on Wednesday.
Obi, like Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, had challenged the PEPC’s verdict, accusing INEC and Tinubu of electoral malpractices.
In one of the appeal’s 51 grounds, Obi’s counsel argued that the PEPC panel “erred in law and thereby reached a wrong conclusion” when it dismissed Obi’s suit.
The appellant’s lawyer also urged the Supreme Court to determine if the presidential election court erred in law when it expunged the statements on oath of Obi’s witnesses from the court’s records.
Obi contended that his right to a fair hearing was violated when the PEPC dismissed the evidence of 10 out of his 13 witnesses.
He argued that the court overlooked that the respondents failed to disprove the evidence of substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2022.
The appellant also claimed that Tinubu was not qualified to vie for the election due to improper nomination of his vice-presidential pick.
Obi urged the court to either declare him president or order a fresh rerun election.
The presidential candidate and his party are expected to file their joint appellant’s brief, which will contain their full legal arguments.
INEC, Tinubu, and the APC will then file their respective respondent’s briefs before the Supreme Court sets a date for hearing.
