THE Presidential Election Petitions Court has declared that it lacks the jurisdiction to hear the appeal of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) contesting President Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima’s qualifications.
Justice Haruna Tsammani, reading the first ruling today, stated that the questions presented before the panel are pre-election matters that should have been heard by a high court.
He also stated that the 180-day timeframe for resolving the matter has passed.
“In Alhassan and others versus Ishaku and others, it was held that an election tribunal has no jurisdiction on the primary of a political party,” he said.
He went on to say that the matters of qualification and disqualification are guided by the provisions of sections 131 and 137(1)(a)(j) of the Nigerian Constitution.
He held that issue complained of was an internal affair of a political party.
APM had contended that Tinubu and Shettima were not validly nominated to contest the February 25. They argue that by the combined reading of sections 131(c) and 142(2) of the Nigerian Constitution, 1999 and Section 133 of the Electoral Act made them to invalid.
They contended that when Kabiru Masari announced his withdrawal as an APC placeholder on June 24, 2022 to the date Shettima’s name was forwarded to INEC on July 14, 2022, was 21 days which breached Section 33 of the Electoral Act, 2022, which provides for 14 days for the replacement of a candidate for an election.
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