Presidential Election: Tribunal commences sitting, Justice Tsammani heads panel
The Presidential Election Petition Court has unveiled its panel of Justices who will oversee the legal battle over the February 25th presidential election.
As the Presidential Petition Court begins hearing today, the name of the justices who will be presiding over the petition are: Chief Registrar of the Court of Appeal, Haruna Tsammani, Justice Stephen Adah of the Court of Appeal Asaba division, Justice Misitura Bolaji-Yusuf, Court of Appeal also of Asaba Division, Justice Boloukuoromo Ugoh of Kano division, Justice Abba Mohammed of Ibadan Court of Appeal.
Before the court stood down, the five-man panel of justices headed by the presiding justice of the PEPC, Justice Haruna Tsammani, gave the assurance that justice will be served.
In his inaugural speech, the chairman of the Tribunal, Justice Tsammani, urged parties before the court to refrain from making sensational comments that could cause unrest in the country.
The Presiding Justice, Tsammani, urged lawyers representing all the petitioners to avoid sensational comments, stressing that the court would not tolerate time-wasting tactics and technicalities.
He said: “As we commence hearing of the petitions, let us avoid making sensational comments. Let us consider the safety and interest of the country, that is paramount.
“We should avoid unnecessary time-wasting applications and objections so that we can look at substance of the case rather than unnecessary technicalities.
“Let us corporate with each other so that everyone will be satisfied that justice has been done”.
Responding, lead counsel to the President-elect, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, assured the court of the maximum corporation of his team, saying there was a need for the matter to be determined without recourse to unnecessary technicalities.
Likewise, the head of the team of lawyers representing the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, said they would do everything possible to assist the court to do justice.
On his part, Dr Livy Uzoukwu, SAN, who is representing the Labour Party and its candidate, Mr Peter Obi, noted that the petitions were of great public interest, saying “At the end of the day, I am very confident that the petitions will impact on Nigeria’s jurisprudence and constitutionalism”.
“We will do everything possible to assist your Lordships,” he added.
Likewise, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, through its lawyer, Mr A. B. Mahmood, SAN, expressed confidence in the electoral body on the ability of the court to do justice on all the petitions before it.
“My lords, we are confident that at the end of the day, justice will be done,” Mahmood, SAN, stated.
As further disclosed by the presiding judge, the petitions to be considered today during the pre-hearing would be the first three petitions while the 4th and 5th petitions “can take off tomorrow.
They are marked CA/PEPC/01/2023 by the Action Alliance party and its standard bearer Solomon Okanigbuan; CA/PEPC/02/2023 filed by the Action People’s Party as the sole petitioner; and CA/PEP/03/2023 by the Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
He said the cases will be alternated until the pre-hearing comes to an end.
” Then we will alternate until we finish the pre-hearing.”
Meanwhile, at the commencement of the pre-hearing at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal after recess on Monday in Abuja, the Action Alliance withdrew its petition against the President-Elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and no reason was given for the withdrawal.
