Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) on Wednesday held that President Muhammadu Buhari was duly elected as the President of the Republic of Nigeria.

The Tribunal, in the lead judgment delivered by Justice Garba Mohammed, dismissed the petitions filed by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and its Candidate, Mr Atiku Abubakar against the election of Buhari in its entirety as they lacked merit.

Justice Mohammed held that evidence given by the 62 witnesses called by the PDP and Atiku  did not help the petitioners’ case, adding that the petitioners could not prove that Buhari was not duly elected.

He further added that Atiku and the PDP have no evidence of non-compliance to the Electoral Act by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The Judge also held that the only way to prove cases of over-voting, electoral manipulation, among others was to tender the voters’ register, which the petitioner could not provide and that all the witnesses called by the petitioners failed to establish cases of over-voting.

He said failure by the petitioners to prove their case against Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in all grounds has led to the dismissal of the petition filed in its entirely.

Earlier, the tribunal ruled that Buhari possessed the West African School Certificate Examination, WASCE, to contest the 2019 election.

The tribunal said Buhari was not only qualified, but eminently qualified to contest the election, saying that the petitioners, Atiku Abubakar and PDP, could not run away from the fact that Buhari obtained WASCE that qualified him for the election.

The Tribunal also declared that there is no evidence that INEC transmitted the results of the last presidential election electronically to any server.

The court held that the petitioners failed to prove the existence of an INEC server or that the electoral commission transmitted results electronically.

It held that there is no law in place in Nigeria that allows electronic transmission of results or the transmission of result using card reader.

“I have carefully examined and examined Exhibit 28 (INEC Manual for Election) tendered by the petitioners, I did not see where there is provision for electronic transmission of result of election,” the Judge said.

The Tribunal upheld argument by INEC that it was wrong for the petitioners to raised criminal allegations of intimidation, harassment, corruption, etc against security personnel and some named persons, but who are not parties to the petition.

The PEPC, in the second ruling on a motion by INEC, said the court lacked the vires (powers) to entertain any criminal allegations against any person, who is not before it.

It proceeded to strike out portions of the petition by Atiku and the PDP, where such allegations are contained.

Earlier, the court upheld the petitioners’ contention that, issues of qualification and whether or not a candidate supplied false personal information to INEC before the election, could be heard before or after an election.

The court said questions about a candidate’s qualification could be pre and post elections issues that could be heard either at a High Court or an election tribunal.

It held that it has jurisdiction to determine the issue of whether or not Buhari was qualified to contest the election and whether or not he lied in the personal information contained in the affidavit he submitted to INEC as alleged by the petitioners.

The Tribunal which sat at the Court of Appeal, dismissed a preliminary objection by the INEC, seeking to strike out the petition filed by the PDP and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, challenging the declaration of Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress as winner of the February 23, presidential election.

INEC’s motion dated May 15, was filed by its counsel, Yunus Usman SAN.

Specifically, INEC contended that the non-joining of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as a party in the petition rendered the case incompetent and therefore liable to be dismissed.

But in a lead judgment, Justice Mohammed held that the non-joinder of Osinbajo could not render the petition incompetent.

He stated that the VP is only an interested party and not a necessary party because he was chosen by the 2nd respondent, President Buhari and the APC (3rd respondent) as a running mate.

In a unanimous ruling, the tribunal held that “the motion of the 1st respondent is not well-grounded in law, it lacks merit and is hereby refused”.

The Tribunal also struck out Atiku’s petition citing TraderMoni as a vote-buying strategy.

In a unanimous ruling by the five judges, the tribunal ruled that the Federal Government empowerment programme promoted by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is not vote buying.

TraderMoni is one of the National Social Investment Programmes of the Buhari administration that empowers petty traders with N10,000 to boost their business and improve financial inclusion across the country.

The court ruled that Atiku’s lead counsel is registered to practice law in Nigeria and that nothing is wrong with his full name or abbreviations.

The PEPT struck out the argument by the APC that Atiku was not qualified to contest the last presidential election because he is allegedly not a Nigerian by birth.

The court said its power does not include determining the qualification of a petitioner in an election dispute.

It said its powers was to determine whether a person elected to the office of the President was validly elected and not to query the qualification of the petitioners to have contested the election, whose outcome was being queried.

The court said the APC ought to have filed a cross-petition if it sought to challenge the qualification of the 1st petitioner (Atiku) to have contested the election.

Reacting to the verdict, the PDP said it completely rejects the judgment of the Tribunal describing it as provocative, barefaced subversion of justice and direct assault on the integrity of our nation’s justice system.

The party in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, said the party was particularly shocked that the tribunal failed to point to justice despite the flawless evidence laid before it, showing that President Buhari was not only unqualified to contest the election but also did not score the majority of valid votes at the polls.

“The PDP finds as bewildering that a court of law could validate a clear case of perjury and declaration of false information in a sworn affidavit, as firmly established against President Muhammadu Buhari, even in the face of incontrovertible evidence.

”The party is also rudely shocked that the Court took over the roles of the respondents’ lawyers who clearly abandoned their pleadings by refusing to call evidence in defense of the petition. The court raked up all manner of excuses to make up for the yawning gaps occasioned by the total absence of any evidence from the respondents.

“Nigerians and the international community watched in utter disbelief when the tribunal ruled that one need not provide a copy or certified true copy of educational certificate such individual claimed to possess, contrary to established proof of claims of certification.

“The party notes as strange that the court even went ahead to provide rationalizations in favour of President Buhari, even when all hard facts before it shows that he did not possess the claimed educational certificate and that the Army was not in possession of his WAEC certificate as claimed in the affidavit he deposed to in his Presidential nomination form.

“The PDP also described as shocking that the court approved the flawed declaration of President Buhari as the winner of the election despite evidence to show the perpetration of illegalities, manipulations, alterations and subtraction of valid votes freely given to Atiku Abubakar by Nigerians.

“Indeed, the pervading melancholic atmosphere across our nation since the verdict is a direct indication that the judgment has not fulfilled the desires and expectations of Nigerians.

”The PDP however encouraged Nigerians to remain calm and not to lose hope or surrender to despondency or self-help, as our lawyers are upbeat in obtaining justice at the Supreme Court.

“This is more so as the tribunal itself admitted that there are several errors in the judgment,” the PDP said.