PETER OBI FILES PETITION TO NULLIFY TINUBU'S VICTORY, SEEKS FIVE PRAYERS

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By ‘Leke Yusuf

Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in last month’s presidential election, Peter Gregory Obi; has officially submitted petition challenging the process leading to the declaration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner of the election held on February 28.

In a short statement on Tuesday morning, the Chief Spokesman of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign of the Labour Party, Dr. Yunusa Tanko announced the submission of the petition.

He wrote, “It is official the Labor Party Presidential candidate Peter OBI has filed his petition to the presidential elections tribunal in Abuja. The process of reclaiming the people’s mandate has started.”

The petition, jointly filed by Obi and the Labour Party as co-petitioners, joined the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Tinubu, Shettima Kashim (vice president-elect), and the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the respondents.

The Labour Party candidate sought five prayers in his petition.

Principal among his prayers is his call on the court to cancel the 25 February presidential election and order a fresh poll.

Setting out the grounds for the petition, Obi’s lead lawyer, Livy Uzoukwu, said Tinubu “at the time of the (presidential) election was not qualified to contest the election.”

Uzoukwu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), argued that the president-elect “was not duly elected by majority of the lawful votes cast at the time of the election.”

Prayers

Among his five prayers, Obi urged the Presidential Election Petition Court to “determine that at the time of the presidential election held on 25 February, 2023,” Messrs Tinubu and Shettima “were not qualified to contest the election. ”

He prayed 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.”

Obi prayed 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.”

Obi filed the petition at the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja, at about midnight on Tuesday 21st March which is the deadline for any aggrieved candidates and political parties to do so.

The former Anambra State governor came third in the election with a total of 6,101,533 votes, behind second placed Atiku who had a total of 6,984,520 votes, according to INEC.

Rabiu Kwankwaso of the NNPP came fourth with a total of 1,496,687 votes.

Atiku is also expected to file his petition today.