The Labour Party, along with its presidential candidate in the February 25th presidential election, Peter Obi, has submitted an appeal challenging the ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) on September 6, 2023, to the Supreme Court.
The legal team representing the Labour Party, led by Livy Uzokwu (SAN), has presented 51 grounds for their appeal, which they assert as “legal errors” to demonstrate that President Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, did not legitimately win the election. They argue that it was incorrect for both the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the PEPC to declare him the winner, considering multiple undisputed points suggesting otherwise. The National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, conveyed this information in a statement issued on Tuesday, September 19.
The statement outlines the relief sought by Obi and the Labour Party from the Supreme Court, encompassing four key points: permitting the appeal, overturning the PEPC’s judgment, and granting the requested reliefs from the petition, either in the primary or alternative form.
Regarding the issue of the 25% requirement for Abuja, Obi and the Labour Party have enumerated the specific errors made by the PEPC, including the failure to recognize that, for a President to assume the position of Governor of Abuja, they are also mandated to secure 25% of the votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Additionally, they have accused the PEPC of neglecting the broader implication of section 299, which becomes more apparent upon careful examination of section 301 of the constitution.
No specific date has been scheduled yet for the hearing of this case.
