Mr Peter Obi, the candidate for the Labour Party who is adamant that he won the February 25 presidential election, produced certified copies of the election results from six states of the federation on Thursday to bolster his claim.
Obi presented the results from 115 local government areas (LGAs) as evidence before the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), which was in session in Abuja.
Obi’s legal team was headed by Prof. Awa Kalu, SAN, but one of his attorneys, Chief Emeka Opoko, Sr., submitted the election results, which were contained in Forms EC8A, to the Bar.
The LP candidate who finished third in the presidential election presented the court with the first set of election results, which included data from 15 of Rivers State’s 22 local government areas (LGAs).
The five-member panel headed by Justice Haruna Tsammani accepted the Rivers State results and designated them as Exhibits PD 1 to PD 15, despite opposition from all respondents in the case.
Results from 18 LGAs in Cross River State were added to the evidence as Exhibits PD1 – PD 18, while results from 23 LGAs in Benue State were offered by Obi and the LP in equal measure. These results were also admitted in evidence and designated as Exhibits PC 1 to PC 23.
Obi submitted Forms EC8A from 23 LGAs in Niger State, which were accepted as Exhibits PE-1 to PE23, along with those from 20 LGAs in Osun State, which were designated as Exhibits PF 1 through PF 20.
The most recent results that the petitioners presented to the court were from 16 LGAs in the state of Ekiti and were designated Exhibits PG 1 through PG 16.
Further proceedings in the case were then postponed until Friday by the panel headed by Justice Tsammani.
In their final written response, each respondent promised to explain why they disagreed with the presidential election results that Obi and the LP had submitted as evidence.
Cited as 1st to 4th respondents in the petition, are; the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima; and the All Progressives Congress, APC.
It will be recalled that Obi and the LP indicated their decision to call a total of 50 witnesses in the matter.
Obi specifically claims that President Tinubu was not the legitimate winner of the election in the joint petition he filed with the LP.
President Tinubu wasn’t eligible to run for president, according to the petitioners in the case with the case number CA/PEPC/03/2023.
The petitioners contend that Shettima, Tinubu’s running mate, was still the APC’s choice for the Borno Central Senatorial seat at the time Tinubu switched to running for vice president.
The petitioners further contested Tinubu’s eligibility to run for president, claiming that he had previously been charged with fraud and drug trafficking and fined $460,000 by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Case No: 93C 4483.
The petitioners claimed that INEC violated its own regulations and guidelines by acting in a way that rendered the election invalid due to corrupt practises and a failure to comply with the requirements of the Electoral Act, 2022.
The petitioners argued that the electoral body was, in the course of the conduct of the presidential poll, mandatorily required to prescribe and deploy technological devices for the accreditation, verification, continuation, and authentication of voters and their particulars as contained in its regulations.
They are, therefore, praying the court to among other things, declare that all the votes recorded for Tinubu and the APC, were wasted votes owing to his non-qualification/disqualification.
“That it is found that the 1st Petitioner (Obi) received not less than 25% of the votes cast in at least 2/3 of the States of the Federation, the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and the remaining votes (after discounting the votes credited to the 2nd Respondent)” satisfied the constitutional requirements to be declared the winner of the 25th February 2023 presidential election.
“That it be determined that the second respondent, 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 February 25, 2023.
Alternately, the petitioners are requesting a judgement declaring the election invalid and ordering INEC to hold a new election in which Tinubu, Shettima, and the APC—listed as the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respondents, respectively—shall not take part.
They pleaded with the court to rule that Tinubu’s return as the winner of the presidential election was illegal, unconstitutional, and had no bearing at all because he had not been duly elected by a majority of the valid votes cast in the election.
The petitioners’ second alternative request is for the court to declare the presidential election invalid on the grounds that it was not substantially conducted in accordance with the Electoral Act of 2022 and the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
Additionally, the requester requested an order “cancelling the presidential election conducted on February 25, 2023, and mandating the first respondent to conduct a new election for the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
Obi and Baba Ahmed Datti, his vice presidential candidate, were both present in court on Thursday to observe the proceedings.