Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the February 25 presidential election, has filed a petition at the presidential election tribunal challenging the victory of Bola Tinubu as president-elect.
In the petition, the former Anambra governor is demanding a fresh presidential poll.
The president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who was the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was declared the winner by the electoral umpire, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
According to INEC, Mr Tinubu of the APC scored the highest votes of 8,805,655 and secured victory in 12 states of Rivers, Borno, Jigawa, Zamfara, Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Ekiti, Ondo, Oyo, and Ogun.
Atiku of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) scored 6,984,290 votes to secure victory in 12 states of Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Kaduna, Gombe, Yobe, Bauchi, Adamawa, Taraba, Osun, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa.
Mr Obi of the Labour Party (LP) came third in the election after securing 6,093,962, winning 12 states of Edo, Cross River, Delta, Lagos, FCT, Plateau, Imo, Ebonyi, Nasarawa, Anambra, Abia, and Enugu.
TheCable reports that Mr Obi filed the petition on Tuesday at the Abuja court of appeal which serves as the presidential election petition tribunal.
In the suit, Mr Obi and the LP are the petitioners while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Tinubu, Shettima Kashim, the vice president-elect, and the APC are respondents.
Grounds and prayers of Obi’s petition
Mr Obi in his petition through his lawyer Livy Ozoukwu submitted that Tinubu “at the time of the (presidential) election was not qualified to contest the election”.
He further argued that the president-elect “was not duly elected by a majority of the lawful votes cast at the time of the election”.
Consequently, the petitioners are asking the tribunal to determine that all the votes recorded for Tinubu in the election “are wasted votes, owing to the non-qualification” of the president-elect and Shettima.
“That it be determined that the 2nd respondent (Tinubu) having failed to score one-quarter of the votes cast at the presidential election in the federal capital territory, Abuja was not entitled to be declared and returned as the winner of the presidential election held on 25 February 2023,” Mr Obi said in his application.
Also in the petition, the petitioners have asked the tribunal to make “an order cancelling the election and compelling the 1st respondent (INEC) to conduct a fresh election at which the 2nd respondent (Tinubu), 3rd respondent (Shettima) and 4th respondent (APC) shall not participate”.
