Youth group charges President Elect, Tinubu, on inclusion

As Nigerians count down to May 29 for a new administration, a youth support group has asked the president elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to bring young and dynamic individuals into his administration.

The group while expressing their view that the presidential election was credible appealed to Nigerians across political divides to support the incoming administration.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION PETITION TRIBUNAL DISMISSES AA’S PETITION 

The Justice Haruna Tsammani-led five-member panel of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) has dismissed the petition by the Action Alliance (AA) and its presidential candidate, Solomon Okanigbuan.
The court’s decision followed a motion moved by the petitioners’ lawyer, Oba Maduabuchi (SAN), but he did not say why his client was withdrawing it.

Listed as respondents in the petition, marked: CA/PEPC/01/2023 are the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Hamza Al-Mustapha.

Lawyers to the respondents – Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN) for INEC, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) for the APC, Wole Olanipekun (SAN) for Tinubu and Mohammed Sani for Al-Mustapha, did not object to the withdrawal.

Ruling, Justice Tsammani dismissed the petition.

Justice Tsammani earlier announced that the court would commence its pre-hearing session with three petitions: the one by AA and those by the Action Peoples Party (APP), marked: CA/PEPC/02/2023 and Peter Obi & Labour Party (LP) marked: CA/PEPC/03/2023.

He sought the cooperation of all lawyers to enable the court to decide the cases on time.

President-elect Tinubu urged Nigerians to have faith in the judiciary and allow judicial process to run its course.

According to him, the ongoing case at the tribunal is part of the democratic process, which allows anyone who feels aggrieved after losing an election to challenge it in court.

He said his pre-occupation now is how to hit the ground running after his inauguration on May 29.

He said the challenges are enormous and he is prepared to give all that is required to make life more abundant for Nigerians.

He spoke in Lagos at about the time the tribunal’s pre-hearing was going on in Abuja.

He was addressing some of the guests that graced the prayer session at his new home on Oyinkan Abayomi Drive in Ikoyi.

The new home is a stone’s throw from his famous Bourdillion street residence.

After the dismissal of AA’s petition, counsel for the petitioners and respondents in the other two petitions – Obed Agwu (for APP), Livy Uzoukwu (SAN) for Obi and LP, Fagbemi, Olanipekun and Mahmoud adopted the separate responses to the pre-hearing questions in respect of the two petitions, which they filed earlier.

Afterwards, the court urged them to meet, and agree on what documents to be tendered, those they plan to object to and those they will allow to be admitted without objection.

The court also ordered them to identify issues for determination in both petitions and file them before the next pre-hearing session.

It subsequently adjourned till tomorrow at 9 am for the resumption of the pre-hearing session in the petition by the APP, and 2 pm the same day on the petition by Obi and LP.

The court fixed the pre-hearing session on the other two petitions – by Allied Peoples Movement (APM) marked: CA/PEPC/04/2023, and Atiku Abubakar & the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) marked: CA/PEPC/05/2023 – for today at 9 am.