Presidential election: Obi, Atiku begin battle to upturn Tinubu victory

 

The struggle has now moved to the courts, where the Labour Party's Mr. Peter Obi and the People's Democratic Party's (PDP) Atiku Abubakar are attempting to have Bola Tinubu's victory declared illegal following the completion of the 2023 presidential election.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, proclaimed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC, the winner of the election on February 25.

Results announced by INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu show that Tinubu won with 8,794,726 votes, defeating Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP, who received 6,984,520 and 6,101,533 votes, respectively.

While all of the political parties together received just 666,298 votes, Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigerian Peoples Party, or NNPP, received 1,496.807.

Also, it was claimed that Tinubu received the required 25% of the votes from 24 states as outlined in the Electoral Act of 2022, as modified.

The LP and the PDP, however, have been protesting unfairness and claiming that they each won the poll.

Moreover, the ruling party is at odds with both the LP and the PDP.

The LP's Obi had asked for a court injunction to prevent INEC from changing the configuration of the BVAS used for the poll. The party intends to use the BVAS to support its arguments in court. The application was rejected by the INEC, which said that it would have an impact on both the governorship and the state house of assembly elections.

Nonetheless, the court decided that the INEC should proceed with the BVAS reconfiguration. It based its decision on INEC's assertion that the measure would not have an impact on the BVAS data, which it claimed was already on its main server.

Okezie Ikpeazu's senior special assistant on public communication, Sam Hart, summarized the decision as follows:

On Wednesday, there were significant legal fireworks in the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, and the court issued various decisions.

"Win-win for LP and INEC. Granting both demands

"INEC guarantees the Court that the reconfiguration of BVAS won't delete data because it's already been saved in the server's back end."

"LP: Judgment: Examine records;

Reconfigure BVAS for March 11: INC.

Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Digital Media, in an interview with the Daily Post, discussed the likelihood that the LP candidate will successfully prosecute his allegation that his mandate was stolen. Tony Ehilebo, a lawyer, stated that the LP and its candidate must present sufficient proof that they won the election, particularly the 25% threshold needed from 24 states and the FCT.

"Well, you never know what a man has in his arsenal until he comes out and publicly declares war." Even the opponent with whom you are going to battle does not know all of the weapons at his disposal. You only need to observe. "We'll watch and wait," he said.

In what states did you claim you won the necessary 25% when you claimed to have won the election? In any event, I believe it to have been a pretty strong run for him in such a short period of time.

"I believe the situation is more in favor of INEC's significant compliance."

Did INEC follow the instructions it repeatedly promised would serve as the rules for the election? You are not above the law just because you are an umpire. Even the powerful Supreme Court is constrained by its statutes, he said.

The President-elect, Tinubu, was also given permission by the court on Wednesday to have direct access to the Independent National Electoral Commission's (INEC) server in order to examine all of the documents utilized for the presidential election.

The electoral body must allow the president-elect to make photocopies of the papers during the inspection, the court said in a decision on Tinubu's ex-parte plea.

The judge who made the decision, Judge Joseph Ikwegh, stated that he was convinced that Tinubu's request to examine, view, and duplicate any papers needed for his particular purpose had validity.

According to Judge Ikwegh, the president-elect is authorized to access the INEC server and make photocopies for purposes of defending his election against any petitions.