The Chairman of the five-man panel of justices at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, Justice Haruna Tsammani, has emphasised that candidate disqualification due to double nomination is considered a pre-election matter.
This was disclosed as the panel begins judgement on the petition by the Labour Party and its Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi, against President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressive Congress.
One of the suits against the APC, especially, its Vice Presidential Candidate, Kashim Shettima, was that he received a double nomination before the election: one as a vice presidential candidate and also as a senator.
The suit filed by the Allied Peoples Movement before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, which aimed to disqualify Vice President Kashim Shettima, has been dismissed.
The party contended that Tinubu’s nomination of Kashim Shettima as his vice-presidential candidate for the election was not in accordance with proper sponsorship by the All Progressives Congress.
According to the opposition party, Shettima’s acceptance of the nomination for vice-presidential candidate on July 14 implied that he remained the APC candidate for the Borno Central Senatorial District.
In its judgement on Wednesday, the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal determined that the issue falls under the category of pre-election matters, so concluding that it does not possess the authority to adjudicate on the matter.
The court further determined that APM did not possess the legal standing to initiate proceedings over the nomination and endorsement of Shettima.
