Tinubu, APC oppose move to consolidate Atiku, Obi’s petitions

The president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, have opposed the move to consolidate the three different petitions that are seeking to nullify the outcome of the 2023 presidential election.

Tinubu, through his team of lawyers led by Akin Olujinmi maintained that merging all the petitions would adversely affect his ability to effectively defend all the issues that were raised against him by the petitioners.

The presidential election petition court had disclosed its intention to consolidate all the petitions.

The justice Haruna Tsammani-led five-member panel of the court said it was empowered by paragraph 50 of the first schedule to the electoral act to merge all the petitions and determine them together.

It gave counsel for all the petitioners the permission to consult their clients and report back to it with the outcome of the meeting.

Consequently, at the resumed proceedings on Monday, Tinubu’s lawyer argued that the provision of the electoral act the court referred to was not absolute.

Counsel to the APC, Charles Edosomwam also argued that consolidating the petitions would be against the interest justice.