Presidential Election Tribunal has dismissed the petition of the Hope Democratic Party (HDP) and its candidate, Ambrose Owuru against the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari in the last presidential election.
In a ruling on Thursday, the five-man panel of the court, upheld the preliminary objection filed by Buhari against the competence of the petition.
The court held that it lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the suit. It said the petitioner talked about referendum which is similar to what the petitioners sought in their pending cases before the Federal High Court on the same issues.
Justice Mohammed Garba, who is reading the lead judgment, held that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the petition and that it constitutes an abuse of court process.
It was a unanimous decision to dismiss the suit as all the justices agreed with the judgement.
The petitioners had sought to be pronounced the winners of the election on the grounds that they won a referendum, which they claimed was conducted when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) postponed the conduct of the presidential election.
The court, in another ruling, also refused the preliminary objection filed by the 2nd respondent, INEC) against the competence of the petition.
