President Bola Tinubu and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), looks set for victory at the presidential election petition tribunal following the dismissal of the petition filed by the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) disputing the nomination of VP Kashim Shettima as running mate in the election.
The Tribunal decided that the matter was not only a pre-election matter and thus unfit for an election petition, but also that the APM, being a third party, lacks the locus standi to challenge the candidate nomination process of another political party.
It holds that the APM was a mere onlooker to the process and should remain mum, regardless of its outcome. The ruling, which effectively ends APM’s quest at the Tribunal, is a bad omen for both the Labour Party and the PDP as a major plank of their petitions also involves the appropriateness of the nomination of President Bola Tinubu and his deputy by the ruling party.