The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal has thrown out a suit brought before it by the Allied Peoples Movement, APM, seeking the disqualification of Vice President Kashim Shettima.
The Court ruled that
1. Qualifications of a candidate can only be contested under Section 131 & 137 of the Constitution.
2. Tinubu and Shettima cannot be disqualified on the basis of double/multiple nomination or even sponsorship.
3. Peter Obi attempt to use 142(1) of the Constitution as a basis will not be upheld by the court.
4. The issue of double/multiple nomination should have been ventilated in the Federal High Court.
The court holds that the application have no merit and is struck out for being incompetent.
The party had argued that Tinubu was improperly sponsored by the All Progressives Congress, APC, for nominating Kashim Shettima as his vice-presidential candidate for the election.
The opposition party had claimed that Shettima was still the APC candidate for Borno Central Senatorial District on July 14 when he accepted the nomination for vice-presidential candidate.
However, ruling on the case on Wednesday, Justice Haruna Tsanani of the PEPT ruled that the APM’s suit bordering on alleged muilptle nomination VP Shettima is a pre-election matter, and that it lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
The court also held that APM lacked locus standi to institute matters bordering on nomination and sponsorship of Shettima and also described an abuse of court process.
