Opposition parties in Nigeria seek to quash President Tinubu’s election victory

Nigeria’s main opposition parties – the Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party – have approached the highest court in the country to overturn the outcome of the February 25 presidential election after a tribunal verdict upheld President Bola Tinubu’s election victory. The Supreme Court has the final verdict in presidential election petitions. It has about 60 days to pass its final judgment…

In a last-ditch effort to overturn the results of a poll widely accepted by the world community, Nigeria’s two main opposition leaders sought the Supreme Court on Monday to overturn September’s tribunal verdict upholding President Bola Tinubu’s February election victory.

No president has been removed from office in post election litigations since the country returned to democracy in 1999 after three decades of almost uninterrupted military government.

Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, who finished second and third in the election, respectively, took their election battles to the Supreme Court, which reserved ruling until a date to be determined.

Last month, the presidential tribunal denied Atiku and Obi’s requests to annul the election results over irregularities.

The two candidates also said Tinubu did not receive 25% of the vote in the federal capital of Abuja, hence failing to reach the legal requirement before he was announced winner of the February 25 presidential election.

A presidential candidate is declared to have won in the Nigerian constitution if he or she receives at least a quarter of the votes cast in at least two-thirds of the 36 states and Abuja, the capital.

The opposition and Tinubu’s lawyers have each interpreted the provision in various ways.

The Supreme Court, which has the final verdict in presidential election petitions, has 60 days from the day the presidential tribunal rules to issue its decision.