By Vivian Okejeme, Abuja
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr Peter Obi, has approached the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, challenging the victory of Senator Bola Tinubu, as the president-elect.
Mr Obi who came third in the election with a total of 6,101,533 votes alleges gross irregularities in the conduct of the February 25 elections.
The Labour party candidate, in the petition sought five prayers which he filed to beat the 21-day deadline that elapses Tuesday.
Principal among the prayers is his call on the court to cancel the 25 February presidential election and an order a fresh poll.
The petition, jointly filed by Mr Obi and the Labour Party as co-petitioners, joined the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mr Tinubu, Shettima Kashim (vice president-elect), and the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the respondents.
Tuesday, being the 21st day after the declaration of the results of the election on 1 March, is the last day he and any other aggrieved candidates and political parties had to file their petition in court.
Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was declared winner of the presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, after he scored over 8million votes
INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, who announced the final results in the early hours of Wednesday in Abuja, said Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) PDP came second in the elections.
Atiku polled a total of 6,984,520 votes in the election, while Rabiu Kwankwaso of the NNPP came fourth with 1,496,687 votes.
Setting out the grounds for the petition, Mr Obi’s lead lawyer, Livy Ozoukwu, said Mr Tinubu “at the time of the (presidential) election was not qualified to contest the election.”
Mr Ozoukwu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), argued that the president-elect “was not duly elected by majority of the lawful votes cast at the time of the election.
The senior lawyer led Atiku’s legal team when the former vice president unsuccessfully challenged the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.
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