The Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, have formally petitioned the Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja, challenging the declaration of Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the presidential election on February 25, 2023.
he petition’s first to fourth respondents are the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC); Tinubu; his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima; and the APC.
The petitioners want the tribunal to rule that Tinubu was not legitimately elected by a majority of the valid votes cast. They want INEC to retrieve the certificate of return issued to the APC candidate and issue a new one to Obi.
The petitioners specifically claimed that Tinubu was ineligible to run for office at the time of the election.
They also claimed that the election was invalid due to corrupt practices and noncompliance with the Electoral Act 2022.
Obi requested that the tribunal issue an order canceling the election and ordering INEC to hold a new election in which Tinubu, Shettima, and the APC would not participate.
Similarly, the Action Alliance and the Allied Peoples Movement have filed separate petitions to challenge the presidential election results.
While the Action Alliance and its presidential candidate, Solomon Okanigbuan, filed a petition marked CA/PEPC/01/2023, the Allied Peoples’ Movement filed a petition marked CA/PEPC/04/2023.
The Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate, Atiku Abubakar, is expected to file his own petition before the deadline of midnight.
