The Supreme Court has announced that it will hear the appeal filed by Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 25 Presidential Election, against the election victory of President Bola Tinubu, on Monday, October 23.
The appeal seeks to challenge the result of the election, which declared Tinubu the winner.
Atiku is challenging the ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), which upheld the victory of President Tinubu in the 2023 election.
On October 19, the Supreme Court issued a hearing notice to the defense and prosecution in the case, informing them of the upcoming hearing.
In his defense, Atiku has alleged that President Tinubu submitted a forged certificate from the Chicago State University to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the 2023 presidential election, which he claims makes him ineligible to serve as president.
In his brief before the Supreme Court, President Tinubu urged the court to dismiss Atiku’s appeal and uphold both the PEPC’s ruling and the election result.
President Tinubu argued that he was validly elected after receiving the most votes in the 2023 election.
He added that he was duly declared the winner of the 2023 presidential election by INEC, having met the constitutional requirement of 25% of the vote in at least 24 states.
He contended that Atiku and the PDP only met the 25% requirement in 21 states, falling short of the constitutional minimum of 24.7 states, or two-thirds of the country’s 36 states and the FCT.
