Following the judgement of the election tribunal read by the justices of the Appeal Court, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been cleared of all charges filed by the opposition.
We take a look at the cases filed at the tribunal, and how they were interpreted by the justices.
1) 25% in FCT
Justice Tsammani explained that, Abuja does not have any special status as FCT and no special voters in Nigeria.
2) $460,000 forfeiture of President Tinubu’s Chase Bank account for Narcotics
The Justice ruled that any offence involving dishonesty or fraud from section 37(d) has to be a criminal offence.
3) Election Malpractice
The justices ruled that, the opposition brought to the tribunal, evidences of malpractices without stating the particular polling unit and ward at which the irregularities took place. And on the issue of reduction of votes, the justices ruled that there was no substantial evidence to this effect.
4) Defence of INEC
Justice Tsamanni said, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not provide a system for electronic transmission of results because it is susceptible to hacking. He further explained that, there is nothing in the electoral act or INEC guidelines to show that INEC prescribed to electronically collate results, and only the physical collation is acceptable.
In response to this, Labour Party rejects the tribunal judgement, as they claim, ‘it didn’t reflect the law and the desire of the people.”
More updates unfold in the coming days.
