The opposition’s challenge to Bola Tinubu’s victory in Nigeria’s presidential election has been rejected by the election tribunal. This follows a trend seen in previous election years in Africa’s most populous country.
In Nigeria, no legal challenge to the outcome of a presidential election has ever been successful. The country returned to democracy in 1999 after almost thirty years of military rule and has a long history of electoral fraud.
Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, who came second and third respectively, filed a petition with the court to invalidate the election, alleging irregularities.
Justice Haruna Tsammani, speaking on behalf of the tribunal’s panel of five justices, rejected Obi’s petition point by point. He was expected to move on to Abubakar’s petition, which was also likely to be dismissed.
European observers had reported problems with the elections, including operational failures and a lack of transparency that undermined public trust in the process.
However, the elections concluded without any significant public opposition, and Tinubu has been recognized by the international community as Nigeria’s legitimate leader. At the time of the tribunal’s ruling, he was in India preparing to attend the G20 summit.
Atiku and Obi have the option to appeal the tribunal’s decision to the country’s Supreme Court. The appeal would need to be completed within 60 days of the tribunal’s judgment.
(Writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe and Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Alison Williams)
Credit: The Star : News Feed
