In a remarkable turn of events, the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) abruptly dropped its lawsuit contesting President Bola Tinubu’s nomination for the most recent presidential election on Monday at the Supreme Court.
The party claimed that Kashim Shettima, who eventually ran as Tinubu’s running mate, had submitted two nominations, making Tinubu’s candidacy illegal and unconstitutional.
The party claimed that no legislation in the nation was aware of Kabiru Masari’s departure as the initial vice presidential candidate and stand-in.
APM’s attorney, Chukwuma Machukwu Ume SAN, was questioned about the case during Monday’s sessions.
Ume was grilled by Justice John Inyang Okoro, who pointed out that the Supreme Court had previously issued a decision stating that decisions regarding candidate nomination for elections are internal to political parties.
The Presiding Justice further called his attention to the fact that, even if a ruling was rendered in the APM’s favor, nothing would accrue to it.
Ume applied to drop the appeal in order to lighten the court’s workload after taking the court’s cues into consideration.
Justice John Okoro dismissed the appeal after hearing no objections from Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN, who ran for Tinubu, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, represented by Abubakar Mahmoud SAN, and Akin Olujinmi SAN, who ran for the All Progressives Congress, APC.
The APM and its principal attorney were both dismissed without incurring any fees.
Hearing on the appeal filed by Labour Party candidate Peter Obi has started in the interim.