The Supreme Court on Thursday morning dismissed PDP’s Presidential Candidate bid to bring in the Chicago State University Certificate of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, saying that it lacks jurisdiction after the closure of 180 days allowed by the constitution and the Electoral Act 2022.
In the lead judgment currently being read by Justice Inyang Okoro, the court said Atiku’s petition is a joke, saying that the court had in several decisions made the stand that the 180 days is sacrosanct “like a rock of Gibraltar that cannot be moved”.
Justice Okoro said: “Election petition proceedings are sui generis. This application relates to fresh evidence after the expiration of the jurisdiction of the court below(Court of Appeal). This court cannot do what the lower courts did not do, particularly when the jurisdiction of the lower court has expired. What the applicant has sought to do is to amend his petition, contrary to the provision of the Electoral Act;
The applicant has not even applied to this court for the amendment. It is strange to have this kind of argument in print. It could pass for a joke! Since the lower court lacks the jurisdiction to entertain this application, it follows that this court, this supreme court cannot claim jurisdiction over the same. It will bring us back to the mischief the provisions were meant to cure. This application is therefore refused and therefore dismissed”.
The judgment is still ongoing.
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