• President-elect Bola Tinubu secured another victory at the Court of Appeal in Abuja on Monday, March 24
• The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had asked the appellate court to disqualify Tinubu and the vice president-elect Kashim Shettima, claiming they were not properly nominated
• However, the court dismissed the suit for lacking in merit and awarded a fine of N5 million against the PDP

FCT, Abuja – The Court of Appeal in Abuja has dismissed a suit by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seeking to disqualify the president-elect, Bola Tinubu and the vice president-elect, Kashim Shettima, from participating in the February 25 presidential election.

In the unanimous judgement delivered by Justice Danlami Senchi, the appellate court dismissed the appeal for lacking merit, Nigerian Tribune reported.

Justice Senchi described the appellant, that is the PDP, as a meddlesome interloper, holding that the court cannot be used to perform illegality.

He said the PDP failed to disclose that it has the legal right to institute the action.

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“This appeal is of no merit and it is accordingly dismissed,” the court ruled and awarded a fine of N5 million against the PDP.

2023 presidency: What is the suit about?

The PDP, whose candidate, Atiku Abubakar, came second in the presidential election had contended that the APC candidate, Tinubu, who was declared the winner of the presidential contest, was legally ineligible to participate in the poll.

The party told the court that the manner the APC and Tinubu nominated Shettima as a Vice Presidential candidate for the election, was in gross breach of the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022, as amended.

It claimed Shettima was nominated twice, both for the Vice Presidential position, as well as for the Borno Central Senatorial seat, an action it argued contravened the law.

The PDP had lost the case at the Federal High Court in Abuja before proceeding to the appellate court. Both INEC and APC were equally cited as Respondents in the appeal.

How the APC defended itself against PDP’s suit

Legit.ng gathers that Tinubu and Shettima, through their lawyers challenged the competence of the suit and the jurisdiction of the court to entertain it.

They contended that PDP was bereft of the locus standi (legal right) to institute the action against them.

According to them, no portion of the law conferred on the PDP, the right to dabble into the domestic affair of another political party, especially on the issue of the nomination of its candidates for an election.

The Federal High Court upheld the preliminary objection by Tinubu and Shettima and dismissed the suit for lacking in merit.

Court Orders Atiku, Peter Obi to serve petitions on Tinubu

In another report, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi of the PDP) and Labour Party (LP) have been granted permission to serve their petitions on Tinubu, Shettima and Kabir Masari through the APC.

The permission was granted alongside that of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) by the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC).

Legit.ng gathers that the petitioners argued before the tribunal that Tinubu, the president-elect, was avoiding their petitions.

Source: Legit.ng

President Joe Biden laid out a vision of world-leading US-Canadian economic cooperation in a speech to Canada’s parliament Friday, and announced that the giant neighbors had reached a deal on curbing illegal migration.

Standing ovations by Canadian lawmakers punctuated Biden’s roughly half-hour speech in Ottawa that was thick on praise for North American unity — a sentiment matched earlier when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered his own address.

“Americans and Canadians are two peoples, two countries, in my view sharing one heart,” Biden said, getting cheers when he vowed Canada will “always be able to count on the United States.”

Biden signalled a resolution to one irritant in the close relationship, with a deal on managing the growing issue of undocumented migration on their lengthy border.

“The United States and Canada will work together to discourage unlawful border crossings,” he said. The arrangement will see undocumented asylum seekers crossing from the United States into Canada turned back, while Canada will simultaneously expand the pathway for legal entries.

The plan — similar to a crackdown on the much more heavily used US-Mexican border — has been criticized by migrants’ rights activists. However, Biden and Trudeau are both under political pressure to relieve their badly strained immigration systems and Biden said that regardless, “welcoming refugees and asylum seekers is a part of who Canadians and Americans are.”

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Biden opened his speech with a nod to Canadian bilingualism, greeting parliamentarians with “good afternoon” and “bonjour” — joking that this was as far as he’d got in four years of French at school.

And the bonhomie flowed from then on.

Biden laid out a vision of the neighbors being ever more closely bound with the joint goal of building high-tech economies and reinforcing supply chains for things like critical minerals used in electric vehicle manufacturing.

“Canada and the United States can do big things,” he concluded to more cheering. “We’re going to write the future together.”

Trudeau earlier greeted Biden at the parliament building, saying Canada has “no greater friend and ally than the United States” — a message underlined through the gift to Biden of a chocolate bar from Peace by Chocolate, a brand started by Syrian refugees.

NORAD, China, Haiti

Earlier face-to-face talks between Biden and Trudeau covered a range of areas where both sides are pushing for improvements.

The US government has been pressuring Canada to increase its defense spending, which in 2022 was just 1.33 percent of GDP. This is scheduled to rise to 1.59 percent from 2026, but that’s still well below the NATO alliance requirement of minimum two percent of GDP spending.

A joint statement said that Biden and Trudeau agreed to modernizing their countries’ joint air defense alliance, NORAD, with Canada putting billions of dollars into improved radar and fighter aircraft infrastructure.

A revamped NORAD will “defend against emerging threats to our air and sea space and compete with China and Russia for years to come,” the statement said.

The two leaders reaffirmed support for pro-Western Ukraine “for as long as it takes” in its war to push back Russian invasion, and also issued a warning to China.

“Canada and the United States acknowledge the serious long-term challenge to the international order posed by the People’s Republic of China, including disruptive actions such as economic coercion, non-market policies and practices, and human rights abuses,” the statement said.

“While we will cooperate with China in areas of mutual interest, such as on climate change, we remain committed to ensuring our ability to compete effectively with China on a level playing field.”

Closer to home, the two leaders said they “remain concerned about deteriorating security in Haiti,” but did not say whether progress had been made on long-discussed plans for an international intervention force to stabilize the chaotic Caribbean nation.

Source: AFP