Hearing in the Allied Peoples Movement’s election petition was stalled at the presidential election tribunal due to a Supreme Court judgment on a similar issue.

At Tuesday’s resumed hearing of the petition, Wole Olanipekun, counsel to President Bola Tinubu, told the court that the petition challenging his client’s declaration as president on the grounds of placeholder had been resolved by the Supreme Court.

Mr Olanipekun said a judgment of the apex court on May 26 delivered in a suit instituted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) marked SC/CV/501/2023 against the All Progressives Congress (APC) on similar grounds had taken care of the issue of placeholder.

He argued that the APM’s petition was similar to the case taken to the Supreme Court by PDP and dismissed it on the ground that PDP had no business interfering in the internal affairs of other parties.

Mr Olanipekun submitted that the APM’s petition was predicated on an internal affair of the APC and that the Supreme Court’s judgment had resolved the issue and promised to produce a copy of the judgment within two days for the tribunal.

APM’s counsel, Shehu Abubakar, prayed the court for an adjournment based on the submissions of Mr Olanipekun to allow his team to apply for a certified true copy of the judgment to study it and take an informed decision.

APC’s counsel, Lateef Fagbemi and INEC’s lawyer, Abubakar Mahmoud, did not oppose the request for an adjournment.

The court chairman, Justice Haruna Tsammani, granted the request and adjourned until Friday.

The Supreme Court on May 29 held that PDP or any other party had no right to meddle in other parties’ primaries and candidates’ nominations.

While dismissing PDP’S case, the apex court described the party as a busybody and a meddlesome interloper. It imposed a fine of N2 million on the party for meddling in the internal affairs of the APC.

(NAN)