*President of Court of Appeal to name five Justices to hear petitions today
*Security has already been tightened around the Three Arms Zone
By Augustine Aminu
The Presidential Election Tribunal is now prepared to hear the petitions filed by presidential candidates of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party, Peter Obi challenging the election of Ahmed Tinubu as president-elect.
President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Bolna’an Dongban-Mensem by the authority conferred on her office will this morning announce the five justices of the Court of Appeal that will form the panel that will hear the presidential petitions that emanated from the February 25, 2023 presidential election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Tinubu as the winner of the presidential election.
Atiku, Obi and the others in their various petitions are seeking the nullification of Tinubu’s victory on allegations of widespread rigging, violations of the Electoral Act, suppression of voters, violence, among other electoral malpractices.
Justice Dongban-Mensem is likely to chair the panel, as the court will serve as the court of first instance on this matter, while the Supreme court will be the court of last resort in the event that any of the parties in the lower court is not satisfied with the ruling in the Court of Appeal.
Our Correspondent gathered that the delay in announcing the composition of the Court of Appeal panel was to shield the justices from what top a judicial source called ‘pressures from various interests’.
For the first time in the nation’s democratic history, two presidential candidates, Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, filed different applications claiming that they won the February 25 presidential poll.
The electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission, which is also joined in the suits as a defendant, had declared Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress the winner of the contest.
Checks by our correspondent around the Court of Appeal premises at the Three Arms Zone in Abuja on Sunday showed increased security presence.
There are strong indications that movement into the court premises will be restrained during the pendency of the sitting of the panel.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has claimed that the All Progressives Congress, APC, plan to Influence the outcome of the Petitions Before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.
National publicity Secretary of the party Hon Dabo Ologunagba who made this known at a press conference said the APC is apprehensive given the weight of the evidence against it at the tribuna.
He said, “The PDP also alerts of recent intimidation, harassment, threats and vicious attacks by APC leaders against Nigerian youths and eminent Nigerian personalities for speaking out against APC’s planned moves to install a government that does not enjoy the mandate of majority of Nigerians as expressed at the Polling Units.
“The alleged planned onslaught by APC leaders on eminent Nigerians and our democratic institutions, including the Judiciary, stems from APC’s apprehensions given the weight of evidence against it as well as the continuing refusal by majority of Nigerians to accept the outcome of the flawed Presidential election.
There are apprehensions in the public space, having regards to the reputation of certain individuals within the highest level of the APC who have demonstrated capacity and proclivity to compromise democratic institutions in our country.
