A seven-member panel of the Supreme Court, on Thursday, dismissed the separate appeals filed by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi, for lacking in merit.

Lawyers involved in the just-concluded presidential election appeals have expressed divergent views over Thursday's judgement of the Supreme Court validating President Bola Tinubu's election.

A seven-member panel of the Supreme Court, on Thursday, dismissed the separate appeals filed by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi, for lacking in merit.

The Supreme Court panel led by Inyang Okoro, after dismissing all the eight issues raised in both appeals, affirmed Mr Tinubu as the duly elected Nigerian president.

Briefly reacting to the judgement on the premises of the Supreme Court after the proceedings on Thursday, Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and one of the leading lawyers in PDP's legal team, said in an apparent displeasure, "One word: Nigeria is a work in progress."

Also reacting, Kenneth Okonkwo, a counsel for the Labour Party, criticised the judgement which he said failed to "interrogate" the documents submitted as evidence.

He appreciated the Justices acknowledging the importance of uploading the results to the credibility of the election.

He insisted that the failure to upload the results of the election onto IReV reduced the credibility of the election.

"I disagree respectfully on the judgement, even though the decision is binding. The Supreme Court has the authority to interpret the constitution as their prerogative as an arm of government.

"The only paragraph that the Supreme Court has brought to the notice of the world is that, not uploading the results on IReV reduced the confidence of the people, " he said.

A counsel for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Muhammed Inuwa, welcomed the judgement of the Supreme Court.

He said the defence appellants' lawyers failed to submit necessary documents crucial to their case within the time allowed by the law.

He lauded the Justices for upholding the law.

Also speaking to journalists, Femi Gbajabiamila, the Chief of Staff to the President, expressed joy over the court judgement.