Presidential Poll: Obi Files Petition, Seeks Nullification Of Tinubu’s Electoral Victory

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the just-concluded February 25 presidential election, Mr Peter Obi, has filed his petition before the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal, alleging gross irregularities in the conduct of the election.

Obi is challenging the victory of Senator Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the president-elect.

The Labour Party candidate, in the petition sought five prayers which he filed to beat the 21-day deadline that elapses this Tuesday.

Principal among the prayers was his call on the court to cancel the February 25 presidential election and an order a fresh poll.

The petition, jointly filed by Mr Obi and the Labour Party as co-petitioners, joined the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Tinubu, Kashim Shettima (vice president-elect), and the APC as the Respondents.

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This Tuesday, being the 21st day after the declaration of the results of the election on March 1, is the last day he and any other aggrieved candidate and political party had to file their petition in court.

Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the APC, was declared winner of the presidential election by INEC, after he scored over eight million votes

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who announced the final results in the early hours of Wednesday, March 1, 2023 in Abuja, said Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came second in the election.

Atiku polled a total of 6,984,520 votes in the election.

Mr Obi of the Labour Party came third in the election with a total of 6,101,533 votes, while Rabiu Kwankwaso of the NNPP came fourth with 1,496,687 votes.

Setting out the grounds for the petition, Mr Obi’s lead lawyer, Livy Ozoukwu, said Tinubu “at the time of the (presidential) election was not qualified to contest the election.”

Mr Ozoukwu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), argued that the president-elect “was not duly elected by majority of the lawful votes cast at the time of the election.”

LEADERSHIP recalls that the senior lawyer led Atiku’s legal team when the former vice president unsuccessfully challenged the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.