Today, Monday, May 8, the Presidential Election Tribunal is scheduled to begin hearing petitions submitted by opposition parties challenging the result of the 2023 general election, which declared Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the president-elect on February 25. In their court filings, some defeated candidates claimed that the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party in power, had engaged in electoral fraud.
Recall that Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), and others had petitioned the tribunal to annul the victory declared on Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the grounds of flagrant violations of the Constitution, the Electoral Act, and the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) rules for conducting the election.
PDP’s Atiku Abubakar, whose petition is based on five grounds, is requesting a fresh election due to alleged irregularities at polling units during the 2023 general election. He argues that Bola Ahmed Tinubu was declared the winner of the election before all results and accreditation data were transmitted and uploaded by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
LP’s Peter Obi also raised concerns about various irregularities during the election. He insisted that Tinubu and his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima, were not qualified to contest. Obi claims that Tinubu failed to win the majority of lawful votes and was unable to attain one-quarter of the votes in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
A thorough schedule for the substantive petitions against the President-elect is anticipated from the Court during today’s pre-hearing session. In the meantime, claims have emerged regarding the participation of foreign attorneys in efforts to delay Tinubu’s inauguration on May 29. The participation of foreign legal experts, according to Festus Keyamo, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, has been alleged. Similar to this, Femi Fani-Kayode, a senior official in the ruling party, charged that former President Olusegun Obasanjo had hired foreign attorneys to defend Peter Obi.
Responding to these allegations, Dr. Yunusa Salisu Tanko, Chief Spokesperson of the Labour Party’s presidential campaign council, clarified that members of Obi’s legal team are all Nigerians, emphasizing that no foreign lawyers are involved, and expressed confidence in the presentation they would make before the tribunal.
He said, “As far as I know, the lawyers are all Nigerians, I have not seen any foreign lawyer in the legal team.”
He expressed optimism at the outcome of the process, insisting that the party’s candidate would be making presentations that cannot be faulted.
“From what we are presenting to the court, we are very optimistic that they cannot find fault in our presentation,” he added.
