President Bola Tinubu has cautioned the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) not to nullify his election on the basis that he did not secure 25 percent of the lawful votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) during the February 25 presidential election.
Tinubu made this submission in his final written address to the tribunal, where he is facing two petitions challenging his declaration as the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The petitioners, Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) and Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), alleged that Tinubu did not meet the constitutional requirement of scoring at least one-quarter of the votes cast in two-thirds of the states and the FCT.
They also accused Tinubu of being involved in drug trafficking, having a double nomination of his running mate Kashim Shettima, and benefiting from irregularities in the collation of results.
Tinubu’s lawyers, however, argued that the FCT should be treated as the 37th state of Nigeria and that the petitioners failed to prove any allegations of non-compliance with the electoral laws.
They warned that annulling Tinubu’s election on account of the FCT votes could lead to absurdity, chaos and anarchy and alter the intention of the legislature.
The PEPT is expected to deliver its judgment on the petitions by August 2023.
President Bola Tinubu has cautioned the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) not to nullify his election on the basis that he did not secure 25 percent of the lawful votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) during the February 25 presidential election.
Tinubu made this submission in his final written address to the tribunal, where he is facing two petitions challenging his declaration as the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The petitioners, Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) and Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), alleged that Tinubu did not meet the constitutional requirement of scoring at least one-quarter of the votes cast in two-thirds of the states and the FCT.
They also accused Tinubu of being involved in drug trafficking, having a double nomination of his running mate Kashim Shettima, and benefiting from irregularities in the collation of results.
Tinubu’s lawyers, however, argued that the FCT should be treated as the 37th state of Nigeria and that the petitioners failed to prove any allegations of non-compliance with the electoral laws.
They warned that annulling Tinubu’s election on account of the FCT votes could lead to absurdity, chaos and anarchy and alter the intention of the legislature.
The PEPT is expected to deliver its judgment on the petitions by August 2023.
