Peter Obi of Labour Party and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party have separately filed petitions against the declaration of Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the February 25th presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, have formally filed a petition to nullify the declaration of Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the February 25th presidential election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), Tinubu, his running mate, Senator Shettima and the APC are the 1st to 4th Respondents in the petition marked: CA/PEPC/03/2023.
“We are challenging the qualifications of the candidate that was declared the winner. We are also challenging the processes that led to his declaration as the winner, among others,” Labour Party spokesperson Yunusa Tanko told journalists.
The petitioners are praying for the tribunal to declare that Tinubu was not duly elected by a majority of the lawful votes cast at the election.
They want an order mandating INEC to retrieve the Certificate of Return issued to the APC candidate and issue a fresh one to the LP candidate, Obi.
Specifically, the petitioners alleged that at the time of the election, Tinubu was not qualified to contest.
They equally argued that the election was invalid by reason of corrupt practices and non-compliance with the provision of the Electoral Act, 2022.
On March 2 while speaking about the election during a press conference Obi said, “I will challenge this rascality for the future of the country.”
“This is not the end but the beginning of the journey for the birth of a new Nigeria,” he added.
Similarly, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar has also filed a petition late Tuesday night challenging the declaration of Tinubu as the president-elect.
Atiku, in the petition, marked: CA/PEPC/05/2023, which he lodged before the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, sitting at the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, applied for the withdrawal of the Certificate of Return that was issued to Tinubu by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He argued that the declaration of Tinubu as the winner was “invalid by reason of non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.”
“The 2nd Respondent was not duly elected by a majority of lawful votes cast at the Election.
“The 2nd Respondent was at the time of the Election not qualified to contest the Election.”
The Supreme Court of Nigeria has never overturned a presidential election, though legal challenges are common, including by outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari, who has unsuccessfully fought multiple election losses for months in vain.
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
