Supreme Court reserves verdict in Atiku Abubakar’s appeal against President Tinubu’s victory

In a crucial legal development, the Supreme Court has decided to withhold its judgment in the appeal lodged by Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenging the verdict of the Presidential Election Petition Court that upheld President Bola Tinubu’s win in the presidential election.

A seven-member panel presided over by Justice Inyang Okoro made this announcement on Monday following the completion of arguments from the parties’ legal representatives and the submission of their final remarks.

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The highest court also deliberated on arguments presented by the lawyers representing Atiku regarding his motion to introduce new evidence related to alleged forged documents. Mr. Chris Uche, counsel for Atiku Abubakar, implored the court to grant their motion and, subsequently, approve their appeal, fulfill their requests, and disqualify Tinubu.

However, the respondents’ legal teams, including Abubakar Mahmoud representing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Wole Olanipekun advocating for President Tinubu, and Akin Olujinmi representing the All Progressives Congress (APC), strongly urged the court to reject both the motion and the appeal on the grounds of lacking merit.

Upon resuming the session, the court then proceeded to address the appeal lodged by the APM. Remarkably, the party was encouraged to retract its appeal due to its absence of specific requests for resolution.

Counsel for the APM, Machukwu Umeh, subsequently chose to withdraw the party’s appeal.