The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has appointed five Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) to defend the 2023 Presidential election.
Newsmen learnt that the legal team of the electoral body will be led by Abubakar Balarabe Mahmud (SAN).
INEC’s legal team of SANS includes Stephen Adehi, Pinheiro Oluwakemi Adekunle, Miannaya Essien and Abdullahi Aliyu.
Other legal experts are Garba Hassan, Esq, Patricia Obi Esq and Musa Attah Esq.
Recall that INEC on the 1st of March 2023 declared the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu as the winner of the 25 February 2023 presidential election.
Tinubu had polled a total of 8,794,726 votes and also scored over 25 per cent of the votes cast in 30 states, more than the 24 states constitutionally required.
The Chairman of the electoral body, Mahmood Yakubu who announced the final results in Abuja stated that the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar came second in the election.
The former vice president polled a total of 6,984,520 votes in the presidential election.
The candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi 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.
However, Atiku and Obi have challenged the declaration of INEC claiming that they defeated Tinunu in the presidential election.
The development saw the presidential candidates file petitions to the Presidential election tribunal challenging the declaration of Tinubu.
Obi in his petition claimed that Tinubu “was not duly elected by the majority of the lawful votes cast at the time of the election.”
The former Governor of Anambra State further stated there was rigging in 11 states, adding that he would demonstrate this in the declaration of results based on the uploaded results.
The petition read, “The petitioners shall show that in the computation and declaration of the result of the election, based on the updated results, the votes recorded for the second respondent (Tinubu) did not comply with the legitimate process for the computation of the result and disfavoured the petitioners in the following states: Rivers, Lagos, Taraba, Benue, Adamawa, Imo, Bauchi, Borno, Kaduna, Plateau and other states of the federation.”
Obi and LP said INEC violated its own regulations when it announced the result despite the fact that at the time of the announcement, the totality of the polling unit results had yet to be fully scanned, uploaded and transmitted electronically as required by the Electoral Act.
Among other prayers, the petitioners urged the tribunal to “determine that, at the time of the presidential election held on February 25, 2023, the second and third respondents (Tinubu and Shettima) were not qualified to contest the election.
“That it be determined that all the votes recorded for the second respondent in the election are wasted votes, owing to the non-qualification of the second and third respondents.
“That it is determined that on the basis of the remaining votes (after discountenancing the votes credited to the second respondent) the first petitioner (Obi) scored a majority of the lawful votes cast at the election and had not less than 25 per cent of the votes cast in each of at least two-thirds of the states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and satisfied the constitutional requirements to be declared the winner of the February 25, 2023, presidential election.
“That it be determined that the second 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 February 25, 2023.”
The petitioners are also asking the tribunal for an order cancelling the election and compelling INEC to conduct a fresh election in which Tinubu, Shettima and APC shall not participate.
The tribunal has yet to fix a date for the hearing of the petition filed by the petitioner’s lead counsel, Livy Ozoukwu.
