Emmanuel Thomas l Friday, March 24, 2023
ABUJA, Nigeria – The Presidential Electoral Tribunal sitting at the Appeal Court today granted the prayers of the legal team of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi to serve President-elect, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his Vice President, Kasim Shettima of the All Progressive Congress, APC.
The Labour Party is challenging the decision of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to declare Tinubu as the duly elected president.
Counsel to the party, Ikechukwu Ezechukwu (SAN), in an exparte application, prayed the appellate court to grant his client leave to serve the petition on Tinubu and the Vice President-Elect, Kashim Shettima, through substituted means.
According to Ezechukwu, it is imperated to serve the processes through “substituted means” as a result of heightened security protection around the president-elect and vice president-elect.
He prayed that Obi be allowed to serve the court documents on Tinubu and Shettima through office of the legal adviser of the APC.
Obi’s counsel told the court the bailiff of the Court of Appeal made “unsuccessful attempts to serve the petition personally on” Messrs Tinubu and Shettima.
Ruling on the application, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, led by Haruna Tsammani, granted Obi’s request.
The court ordered that the petition be served on Tinubu and Shettima “by delivering…or pasting the petition No:CA/PEPC/03/2023 and all other processes filed in the petition at either the office of the National Legal Adviser of the” APC or…with any other officer of the APC “at its National Secretariat at No.40 Blantyre Street, Off Ademola Adetokunbo Crescent, Wuse 2, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.”
