FACT CHECK: PEPT didn’t fine APM, LP and PDP for frivolous petitions

Abuja, Nigeria

Claim

In the aftermath of the judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT), many X users (formerly Twitter) have claimed that the court fined the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) millions of naira.

They claimed the court ordered the political parties and their presidential candidates to pay their fines within 48 hours after the judgement into the consolidated account of the Court of Appeal domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

According to the claim, APM was to pay N13,675,890.00; LP was to pay N47,910,431.87 and the PDP was to pay N23,391,001.45 respectively.

PEPC don sama APM, ELLUP & PDP fine becos say the mata wen dem cari come court be like person wey one us basket fetch water:

APM: N 13, 675, 890. 00

LP: N 47, 910, 431. 87

PDP: N 23, 391,001. 45

Dem five dem 2days pere to pay the moni b4 dem use oraimo cord wiredem hed

— Ómó Iya Ólániyàn k. Óláyiwólá. (@Olaniya25911865) September 7, 2023

Dem still order them to pay fine for frivolous petitions 😂
APM: N 13, 675, 890. 00

LP: N 47, 910, 431. 87

PDP: N 23, 391,001. 45

To be paid within the next 48 hours 😂

— Uyiosa Hero (@UyiosaHero) September 6, 2023

PEPC has awarded cost for filing frivolous election:

APM: N 13, 675, 890. 00

LP: N 47, 910, 431. 87

PDP: N 23, 391,001. 45

Ordered to be paid within 48 hours after the judgement into the consolidated account of the Court of Appeal lodged at the CBN. pic.twitter.com/DWxSknRy96

— Ayekooto (@DeeOneAyekooto) September 7, 2023

Verification

DailyAgent Check conducted searches on the keyword, we found out that no credible media has made any report on the claim. A claim of this magnitude would attract media attention if the court actually fined the petitioners.

We also obtained the certified true copy of the judgement of the court as posted on September 10, 2023, by the Court of Appeal. The court didn’t mention the fine of any of the petitioners in its judgment.

CERTIFIED TRUE COPY OF THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION PETITION COURT 2023 JUDGEMENT

Having considered and decided that the three Petitions Nos. CA/PEPC/03/2023; CA/PEPC/04/2023 and CA/PEPC/05/2023 are…

Follow the link below for the CTC of the Judgment 👇https://t.co/Wh2sDnNTwo

— Court of Appeal, Nigeria (CoA) (@NGCourtofAppeal) September 10, 2023

The only part of the judgement on pages 751-752 where Justice Haruna Tsammani affirmed the victory of President Bola Tinubu.

“Having considered and decided that the three petitions, numbers CA/PEPC/03/2023 CA/PEPC/04/2023 AND CA/PEPC/05/2023 are all devoid of merit, the petitions are hereby dismissed. Accordingly, I affirm the declaration and return of Bola Ahmed Tinubu by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the duly elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

“The parties in the three petitions are to bear their respective costs,” the judge said.

This means that the petitioners were responsible for the costs they incurred during the filing of the case and throughout the entire litigation process.

Verdict

The claim is completely false.