The election petition tribunal in Abuja has stated that the petition filed by Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, was vague in certain aspects.
“The petitioners only referred to irregularities in the election but failed to specify the anomalies, the places where they occurred and those affected,” the tribunal said in a lead judgment read by Justice Abba Bello Mohammed.
The court also said the petitioners failed to state the number of votes affected and the number of people disenfranchised.
“The determination of election is about figures,” the court held.
The court also struck out several paragraphs of the LP’s petition for being generic and vague, stating that the affected paragraphs failed to name the specific polling units where irregularities occurred.
The court also dismissed the objection raised by the respondents contending that Obi and LP failed to join Atiku as a respondent in their petition.
“Section 133 of the Electoral Act provides that the loser and winner of an election, as well as the person/body who conducted the election, are to be joined as respondents,” the court held.
“Out of a total of 13 witnesses called by Obi/LP, 10 of those witnesses are not countenanced by the court,” Justice Haruna Tsammani said in his judgment.
“The 10 witness statements of oath are incompetent and cannot be admissible by the court,” he said.