Today, Wednesday, September 6, 2023, the presidential election petition tribunal will announce its highly-anticipated judgement on the result of the February 25 presidential election.
History will either repeat itself and keep Tinubu in office or Nigerians will witness an unprecedented judgement.
Today, Wednesday, September 6, 2023, the presidential election petition tribunal will announce its highly-anticipated judgement on the result of the February 25 presidential election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the election, but his opponents filed petitions before the tribunal to overturn the result.
Ahead of today’s ruling, here are the most important things to remember.
There are three cases to consider
Even though five political parties initially filed petitions against the result back in March, only three of them are still standing and expecting verdicts today.
Second-placed Atiku Abubakar and his People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and third-placed Peter Obi and his Labour Party (LP) are the two prominent petitioners.
Despite finishing 13th at the polls, the Allied People’s Movement (APM) is also expecting the tribunal to rule on its case. The party asked the court to invalidate the result of the election on account of Tinubu’s illegitimacy and award victory to Atiku.
The judgement will be televised
When hearings of the cases started months ago, the tribunal rejected motions from Atiku and Obi to live stream the proceedings to millions of Nigerians, but this will not apply for today’s judgement.
In a bid to promote transparency, according to the Court of Appeal, the judgement will be broadcast live by interested television stations. This means Nigerians everywhere across the country can follow the proceedings live.
5 judges will decide the cases
The three cases will be decided by five judges presiding over them. All five judges don’t have to agree on the same ruling, but the decision agreed by three of them will be the majority ruling that will stand.
The judges presiding over cases today are Haruna Tsammani, Stephen Adah, Misturat Bolaji-Yusuf, Boloukuoromo Moses Ugo, and Abba-Bello Mohammed.
Today’s ruling is not final
Millions of Nigerians are eagerly anticipating the tribunal’s decision, but the court is not the final bus stop for presidential election petitions.
Regardless of who wins or loses today, the tribunal’s decision will almost certainly be challenged at the Supreme Court which is the final decision-making court.
The loser(s) of today’s verdict can file the appeal before the Supreme Court within 14 days. Any appeal submitted outside this window is null and void.
The Supreme Court has a maximum of 60 days to deliver a ruling after the appeal is filed, which means a final ruling on the election result isn’t expected till November.
No presidential election winner has ever lost in court
No Nigerian court has ever overturned the result of a presidential election, despite repeated challenges almost every election cycle, except notably in 2015 when Goodluck Jonathan refused to contest Muhammadu Buhari’s victory.
