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A Nigerian court started hearing a separate suit filed by the opposition parties challenging the presidential victory of Bola Tinubu, the candidate of the ruling party in the February election
A Nigerian court started hearing a separate suit filed by the opposition parties challenging the presidential victory of Bola Tinubu, the candidate of the ruling party in the February election.
The Court of Appeal in the capital, Abuja, heard the opening statements of lawyers representing opposition parties. The ruling party’s candidate Bola Tinubu won the election. The hearing took place under heavy security arrangements. Armed security personnel blocked major access roads to the court of appeal. They prevented a handful of journalists and lawyers from entering the facility. Some protesters waved placards alleging that the electoral process was flawed.
Two main opposition candidates rejected the result. They questioned the results alleging that results from the country’s 177,000 polling stations were tampered with. There is also another side to the story. Independent observers said that the February election was largely an improvement from Nigeria’s previous elections. However, they also pointed out delays in uploading results. This might have given room for the figures to be tampered with. The defeated candidates- second-place finisher Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and third finisher Peter Obi of the Labour Party argued that Nigeria’s electoral commission violated the provisions of the law in announcing the results of the election.
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Obi has said he has evidence to show he tallied the majority votes in the election. Abubakar has asked the court to disqualify Tinubu, alleging that he has a Guinean passport. Foreigners are not eligible to enter the presidential contest under the Nigerian Constitution. So far, Nigeria’s presidential election results have not been overturned by the country’s Supreme Court. This year, as against the previous elections, there was heavy deployment of technology in the electoral process. Tinubu is due to take over from incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari shortly. The court process can be a long drawn-out one.
