In a significant development at the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal in Abuja on Wednesday, the Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, faced a setback in their attempt to establish allegations against President Tinubu regarding drug-related charges in the United States of America. The five-man panel, led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, delivered a crucial ruling stating that the petitioners were unable to substantiate any claims of criminal arrest or conviction against President Tinubu.

Justice Tsammani emphasized, “The petitioners failed to provide concrete evidence of the president’s detention or conviction for any specific offense, as alleged in their petition.” Furthermore, the justice clarified that the financial penalty imposed on President Tinubu by a United States court stemmed from a civil forfeiture proceeding, not from any criminal conviction.

In a significant twist, the court also affirmed the eligibility of both President Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettma to have contested in the last presidential election. Justice Tsammani, while delivering the judgment on the petition by Peter Obi and the Labour Party, asserted that the fine imposed by the US court did not meet the criteria for a fine related to fraud or dishonesty as stipulated in Section 137(1)(d) of the Constitution. This ruling marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing legal proceedings surrounding the presidential election.