In Abuja on Wednesday, the Action Peoples Party (APP) retracted the petition it had previously submitted to challenge the victory of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who was declared winner of the 2023 presidential election as the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

During the hearing at the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) in Abuja, the party's legal representative, Mr. Obed Agu, informed the five-member panel that the party has decided to terminate the hearing on its petition marked CA/PEPC/02/23. He cited Paragraph 29(1)(2) and (3) of the Schedule for Election Petitions as the basis for the withdrawal notice that was filed on May 9.

"Your Lordships, we are requesting this court to grant us permission to retract the petition that was filed on March 19."

Agu further stated, "We also request an order to strike out or dismiss the petition, now that it has been withdrawn."

In response, Chief Wole Olanipenkun, SAN, the lead counsel for the President-elect, Tinubu, stated that they did not object to the APP's request to withdraw the petition and commended their decision. He also added that they were not seeking any costs.

Likewise, Prince Lateef Fagemi, SAN, the lead counsel for the APC, did not object to the APP's application and encouraged others who still have petitions pending against the presidential election outcome to follow in the APP's footsteps.

He commended the APP for taking the right step and urged others who have not done so to do it immediately.

"The train has already left the station. We just want to express our appreciation, and we are not seeking any costs," added Fagbemi, SAN.

Similarly, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not object to the application. The commission's lawyer, Mr. A.B. Mahmood, SAN, confirmed that he received the application on Tuesday.

Following the submissions of all parties, the petition was dismissed by the panel led by Justice Haruna Tsammani.

The court held that after hearing all parties involved, it was satisfied that there was no collusion. Therefore, since the petition was withdrawn, it was dismissed.

The Action Peoples Party (APP) had made several allegations, including claims that the results of the presidential election were tampered with in 11 states across the country to benefit Tinubu.

The party also accused the President-elect of offering bribes to electoral officers to manipulate the results at local government and state collation centers in Rivers and the aforementioned 10 states.

It is worth noting that the Action Alliance (AA), another political party, withdrew its petition on the previous Monday.

Neither APP nor AA provided any explanation for their sudden decision to withdraw their petitions against Tinubu's election victory, as they both terminated further proceedings on the matter.