In a recent ruling, the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal declared that the All Progressives Congress (APC) did not have the legal standing, known as locus standi, to contest Peter Obi’s membership within the Labour Party (LP).
The basis for the APC and President Bola Tinubu’s petitions rested on their claim that Peter Obi’s name was absent from the list of LP members submitted to INEC on April 25, 2022. They argued that this omission violated Section 77 of the Electoral Act of 2022.
However, in the lead judgment on the objections by the APC against the petitions of Obi and the LP, Justice Abba Mohammed said the matter was solely an internal affair of the political party.
“It is only the second respondent (LP) that has the sole prerogative of determining those who are its members,” he said.
Justice Mohammed also dismissed APC’s objection on the non-joinder of PDP presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar in Obi and LP’s petition challenging the results of the election for him (Atiku) not being a necessary party in the petition.
