The stage is now set for the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Bolnaan Dongban-Mensem to formally unveil members of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) that would adjudicate on all petitions filed against the declaration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winners of the disputed 2023 Presidential election.
The unveiling of the tribunal members slated for Monday, May 8, 2023, would be carried out at the Court of Appeal Headquarters in Abuja.
Justice Dongban-Mensem since the presidential election result was made public, kept the names of the tribunal members to her chest to avoid undue influence on them.
The unveiling of the tribunal is coming on the heels of the Action Alliance (AA) and its Presidential Candidate in the election, Solomon David Okanigbuan notifying the tribunal of their intentions to withdraw their petition against the declaration of Tinubu as Nigeria’s President-elect.
The notice of withdrawal of the petition would be tabled before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) on May 8th during the inaugural sitting at the Court of Appeal Headquarters in Abuja.
A motion on notice for the withdrawal of the petition marked CA/PEPC/01/2023 obtained by MAIDAWAAREWA showed that it has been slated as the first assignment of the tribunal.
Aside from Tinubu, others listed as respondents in AA’s petition are the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), All Progressives Congress APC and Hamza Al Mustapha.
However, other petitions slated for the pre-hearing session are those of the Action People’s Party (APP) marked CA/PEPC/02/2023, which has Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as three respondents.
It would be followed by that of Peter Gregory Obi and the Labour Party (LP) marked CA/PEPC/03/2023 with INEC, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Senator Kashim Shetima and APC as four respondents.
A Cause List of the tribunal for May 8th sighted by MAIDAWAAREWA showed that the Allied People’s Movement (APM) would proceed with its petition marked CA/PEPC/04/2023 against Tinubu.
Defendants in APM’s petition are INEC, APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Kashim Shetima and one Kabir Masari.
MAIDAWAAREWA learned that the petition by Abubakar Atiku and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) marked CA/ PEPC/05/2023, would be treated last and has INEC, Tinubu Bola Ahmed and the APC as three respondents.
Our correspondent observed that the Court of Appeal’s Main Court Hall to be used by the tribunal has been locked up as part of security measures while security operatives have been deployed to the premises to ward off possible security breaches during the proceedings.
It was also gathered that all parties in the five petitions have been served with hearing notices through the Chambers of their respective lawyers.
