President Bola Tinubu has warned that nullifying the February 25 presidential election that declared him as the winner, based on his failure to secure 25% of the lawful votes in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), could lead to absurdity, chaos, anarchy, and the distortion of the legislature’s original intent.
Tinubu, who is also the commander-in-chief, made the claim in his final written address to the Presidential Election Petition Court (PREPEC).
He was responding to two petitions filed by candidates of the Labour Party (LP) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), challenging his declaration by the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) as the winner of the presidential election.
Tinubu argued that the petitions raised novel issues and were not in line with the country’s electoral laws.
The PREPEC panel, led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, had granted the respondents 10 days to file their written address, while the petitioners were given seven days to respond. Tinubu, along with his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), concluded their defense in the two petitions, following the closure of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) case.
The petitions filed by Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar are seeking the nullification of Tinubu’s victory, on grounds of non-compliance with electoral guidelines and regulations, as well as relevant laws and alleged massive rigging
According to INEC’s Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, Tinubu secured 8,794,726 votes, while PDP’s Atiku and Obi of the Labour Party got 6,984,520 votes and 6,101,533 votes, respectively.
The petitioners centred their case on Tinubu’s failure to the constitutional requirement of securing 25% of the lawful votes in the FCT.
They raised the issue of his alleged criminal forfeiture in a drug-related case in the Unites States.
They also touched on the alleged double nomination of Shettima, another candidate associated with Tinubu.
During the proceedings, Atiku presented 27 witnesses, including INEC’s Presiding Officers and experts, while Obi called 13 witnesses and submitted numerous documents, including over 18,000 blurred result sheets. INEC, Tinubu, and the APC challenged the credibility of the witnesses and documents, urging the court to dismiss the petitions based on their lack of familiarity with the country’s electoral laws.
Tinubu’s counsel Chief Wole Olanipekun, averred that the petitioners’ case revolved around the non-electronic transmission of results to the INEC Election Result Viewing (IREV) Portal and Tinubu’s alleged failure to secure 25% of the votes in the FCT.
In his view, the interpretation of the Constitution and electoral laws did not support the nullification of the entire election based on the FCT results. He said that all votes and voters should be treated equally, regardless of their location.
The senior lawyer also highlighted the petitioners’ reliance on electronic transmission and challenged the credibility of their witnesses. He asserted that the election was conducted peacefully and in compliance with electoral regulations.
Olanipekun further addressed the alleged US forfeiture proceedings, stating that no admissible evidence existed to invalidate Tinubu’s election.
In his closing arguments, Olanipekun urged the court to dismiss the petitions as lacking merit, substance, and bona fide, characterizing them as an abuse of the court process.
He requested that the court add 10,929 discounted votes from Kano State to Tinubu’s total count, which would bring his final votes to 8,800,369.
A ruling will be delivered by PREPEC after considering the arguments presented by both sides.
cpcnews.org 