The Presidential Election Petitions Court concluded on Wednesday that the Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, failed to prove that All Progressives Congress (APC) President Bola Tinubu was convicted of money laundering in the United States.
The petitioners – Obi and the LP – established no record of criminal arrest or conviction against Tinubu, according to the five-member panel led by Justice Haruna Tsammani.
Tinubu allegedly forfeited $460,000 in the United States over three decades ago, and the petitioners accused him of narcotics trafficking and money laundering.
However, the Tribunal determined that no criminal charges were brought against Tinubu in the United States and that the APC candidate did not face a criminal prosecution in the United States.
The Tribunal said the petitioners failed to prove that the allegation at the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division where the forfeiture occurred was a criminal case.
Justice Tsammani said the ex-governor of Lagos State was not convicted of any crime or any criminal activity and no sentence of imprisonment or fine was imposed on him.
He said according to Section 137 of the constitution, Tinubu is not disqualified from contesting the presidential poll.
The Tribunal also ruled that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was at liberty to decide the mode of transmission of election results during the presidential election on February 25, 2023.
The panel said according to Sections 52 and 65 of the Electoral Act 2022, INEC was at liberty to prescribe the manner in which election results were transmitted during the poll.
The Tribunal consequently dismissed the petition of the LP and Obi, which argued that the victory of Tinubu be annulled on the basis on the “failure” of the commission’s Results Viewing Portal (IReV) to upload election results electronically in real time.
The Tribunal also dismissed Obi and LP’s petitions on 25 per cent votes of Tinubu in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), saying that Abuja is like other states.