By Nicole Augustine
The Action Alliance, AA, has withdrawn the petition it filed against the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and All Progressives Congress, APC.
The party, on Monday, through its team of lawyers led by Mr. Oba Maduabuchi, SAN, applied to discontinue further proceedings in the matter, shortly after the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, kick-started its pre-hearing session.
Oba, SAN, told the court that the petitioners filed a withdrawal notice on May 3, 2023.
Meanwhile, following a no-objection stance by all the respondents in the matter, the Justice Haruna Tsammani led five-member panel dismissed the petition.
Specifically, AA had in the petition marked CA/PEPC/01/2023, which it filed on March 16, insisted that though its candidate, Solomon Okanigbuan, was validly nominated to contest the presidential election, he was however unlawfully excluded by INEC.
The party maintained that the presidential election was thus, “invalid for non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, as amended”.
It argued that Tinubu “was thus not validly elected as his election contravenes the Electoral Act, the 1999 Constitution and INEC Guidelines for the 2023 general elections.”
The petitioners told the court that Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, who was cited as the 4th Respondent, was not a member of the AA and was not sponsored by the party, adding that he did not participate in its presidential primary election.
