The presidential election petition tribunal has dismissed the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) petition on Peter Obi’s eligibility to run in the 2023 general election.
The APC had declared Obi‘s membership in the Labour Party (LP) incompetent.
Justice Abba Mohammed, a member of the five-member panel read the lead judgement.
He stated that political party membership is an internal matter.
President Tinubu and Vice-President Shettima argued that they had the locus standi to file the petition. This, they argued is because Obi only joined the LP a few days before the election, rather than the required 30 days.
However, the court ruled that it is not Tinubu and Shettima’s prerogative to challenge Obi’s candidature.
“The issue of membership of a political party is an internal party affair,” Mohammed said.
The tribunal also dismissed the respondents’ objection that Obi and LP failed to include PDP candidate Atiku Abubakar as a respondent in their petition.
The court ruled that Section 133 of the Electoral Act requires the loser and winner of an election, as well as the person or body in charge of the election, to be joined as respondents.