By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
The last may not have been heard about the February 25 presidential election and the declaration of All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Nigeria’s President-elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the presidential flagbearer of Labour Party, Peter Gregory Obi has officially filed a case in court.
He is challenging the declaration, insisting that Tinubu did not secure the mandatory 25 per cent votes in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
Obi who is seeking to nullify Tinubu’s victory is among other reliefs seeking the disqualification of the former Lagos state Governor as President-elect as he has in the petition he filed at the Court of Appeal in Abuja on Monday, where he also insists that Tinubu, the candidate of APC did not win the number of valid votes to make him claim victory.
Besides, the former Governor of Anambra state, in his petition at the appellate court, which is serving as the court of first instance as the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT), also raised the contentious issue of the requirement that a candidate must obtain the 25 per cent votes in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja in order to emerge as winner of the presidential election .
In a declaration made by INEC on March 1, Tinubu secured 8,794,726 votes, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who had 6,984,520, and Obi who polled 6,101,533.
But in his petition, filed early hours of Tuesday in Abuja, by his lead lawyer, Dr. Levy Uzoukwu, Obi and the LP also joined INEC, Kashim Shettima, the vice president-elect, and the APC as respondents.
Specifically, the petitioners, said that Tinubu at the time of the election was not only not qualified to contest the election, but was not duly elected by majority of the lawful votes cast at the time of the election.
Obi consequently, 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 and 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.
