Victor EzejaPresidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has formally filed a petition at the tribunal challenging the declaration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as the winner of the 25th February election.
In the petition, marked: CA/PEPC/05/2023, Atiku argued that the process that led to the emergence of Tinubu as the winner of the election was in violation of the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 and therefore renders the declaration of Tinubu as the winner of the presidential election “invalid”.
Atiku, through his team of lawyers led by Mr Joe Kyari Gadzama, SAN, further argued that Tinubu’s election was invalid by reason of corrupt practices.
Atiku submitted that the APC presidential candidate was not qualified to contest and was also not duly elected by a majority of lawful votes cast at the Election.
“The 2nd respondent (Tinubu) was not duly elected by the majority of lawful votes cast at the election.
“The 2nd Respondent was at the time of the Election not qualified to contest the Election,” Atiku stated as one of the grounds of the petition which he said the court should consider and nullify Tinubu’s election.
The PDP presidential flag bearer prayed the court to declare him the winner of the presidential election, having secured the second-highest number of lawful votes cast at the election.
Recall that the INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, who announced the final results in the early hours of March 1 in Abuja declared Tinubu the winner of the election and president-elect. According to Mahmood, Tinubu of the APC polled a total of 8,794,726 votes, the highest, to take the first position in the presidential race, while Atiku Abubakar of the PDP came second with 6,984,520 votes. Peter Obi of the Labour Party took third position with 6,101,533 votes while Rabiu Kwankwaso of the NNPP came fourth with 1,496,687 votes.
Obi, the candidate of the Labour Party, has also filed his petition at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal sitting at the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal. He is also seeking an order of the court to void the declaration of Tinubu as the winner of the election and president-elect.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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