2023 Elections: Tribunal Set To Begin Hearing Come May 8. On May 8, the Presidential Election Petitions Court is set to hear the petitions challenging the victory of Bola Tinubu as president-elect of Nigeria. The All Progressives Congress (APC) confirmed its legal team was ready to defend Tinubu’s victory.
A top official of the tribunal also confirmed the hearing proceedings would start on Monday. Although INEC declared Tinubu the president-elect on March 1, two separate petitions from Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party asked the Presidential Election Tribunal to declare them the winners of the polls or cancel the election and order a fresh one. They based their petitions on alleged irregularities that marred the February 25 polls.
2023 Elections: Tribunal Set To Begin Hearing Come May 8
A faction of the Action Alliance is also seeking the tribunal’s order to nullify Tinubu’s victory, contending that the president-elect was not qualified to run for office. The Action Alliance and its presidential flag bearer based their petition on INEC’s failure to upload the name of its candidate, Solomon-David Okanigbuan – to its portal for the February election. The Alliance People’s Movement also filed a petition, contending that the president-elect was not qualified to run for office.
Atiku urged the court to declare him the president-elect, while Obi alleged that the election was characterised by various irregularities, including the non-qualification of Tinubu and his running mate, Kashim Shettima, to contest the election. Another faction of the Action Alliance sought the tribunal’s order to nullify Tinubu’s victory as the president-elect.
2023 Elections: Tribunal Set To Begin Hearing Come May 8
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The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmood Yakubu, had declared Tinubu the president-elect on the grounds that his party scored the majority of votes cast in the polls. Tinubu won the election with 8.8 million votes, while Atiku Abubakar polled 6.9 million, Peter Obi 6.1 million, and 15 others contested. The hearing of the petitions challenging Tinubu’s victory will continue in the Presidential Election Petitions Court.
