Nigeria: Peter Obi Tenders Election Result Documents From Seven States to Challenge Tinubu's Victory

INEC, Tinubu and APC objected to the election result documents from seven states tendered by Peter Obi.

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, on Monday tendered election results from six states at the Presidential Election Petition Court.

Mr Obi, who came third in the February presidential election, is claiming Nigeria's presidency as the winner of the 25 February election.

Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is similarly challenging the victory of President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election.

Mr Tinubu was sworn in on 29 May as Nigeria's 16th Nigerian leader, although the suits filed by Mr Obi and Atiku to challenge his victory continue in court.

Mr Obi and Atiku predicated their petitions on the premise that the election was marred by widespread irregularities ranging from non-compliance with the electoral laws to alleged manipulation of results favouring Mr Tinubu.

At the resumption of proceedings on Monday, Mr Obi's lawyers - Ben Anichebe and Valerie Azinge - tendered result sheets from seven states of Nigeria.

The states are Ebonyi, Nasarawa, Kaduna, Imo, Ondo, Sokoto and Kogi.

The court admitted the results as exhibits.

But Mr Tinubu's lawyer, Wole Olanipekun and APC's lawyer, Lateef Fagbemi, objected to the admissibility of the results.

The legal team of the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), also opposed the admissibility of the electoral documents.

The lawyers reserved their objections to Mr Obi's tendering of the documents until the close of arguments in the case.

After admitting the documents as exhibits, the panel headed by Haruna Tsammani adjourned the suit until 6 June to continue the hearing.

Last week, Mr Obi tendered electoral documents comprising result sheets from 12 states of the federation.

Despite winning the presidential election in Lagos, Nasarawa, Delta, Ebonyi, Imo and other states, Mr Obi argued that votes accruing to him were significantly suppressed in favour of Mr Tinubu.

Also, in aid of his case, the Labour Party candidate has called one witness.

He had indicated his intention to call 50 witnesses and tender tons of electoral documents to substantiate his claims of rampant fraud during the presidential election on 25 February.

Mr Obi has three weeks to prove his case against INEC, Mr Tinubu and the APC respondents in the suit.

AllAfrica publishes around 600 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.