Peter Obi, standard bearer of the Labour Party (LP), has
asked the presidential election petition tribunal to void the election of
President Bola Tinubu.
Obi and his party had filed a joint petition in March
challenging the outcome of the February 25 poll and asked the court to nullify
Tinubu’s victory.
In their final written address dated July 20, the
petitioners insisted that Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima were
unqualified to contest the poll.
Obi and his party submitted that the forfeiture proceeding
allegedly involving Tinubu in a US district court is sufficient to have him
disqualified by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Tinubu had said the $460,000 forfeiture was in a civil — not
criminal — suit and since he was not convicted, he was eligible to contest the
poll.
OBI: TINUBU LACKED
RIGHT TO ASPIRE TO BE PRESIDENT
However, the petitioners insisted that since the forfeiture
followed an indictment for fraud, Tinubu ought not to have contested the
election.
“It is submitted that
the order of forfeiture made against the 2nd respondent by the US
court…constitutes a fine, and it is in respect of an offence involving
dishonest or fraud by a court,” the petitioners said.
“It is submitted that by the express meaning and intendment
of Section 137 (1) (d) of the 1999 Constitution, a person who, even though not
convicted, has forfeited property on account of criminal conduct should not
aspire to or be allowed to occupy the exalted office of president of Nigeria.
“That is why the word “or” is used twice in section
137(1)(d) of the Constitution, meaning it carries a disjunctive meaning — to
separate persons convicted from persons who, even though not sentenced, are
affected by an order of a fine imposed by a Court – like the 2nd respondent in
this petition.”
Obi and his party also maintained that Shettima was guilty
of a double nomination.
They said Shettima was nominated as Tinubu’s
vice-presidential candidate on July 14, 2022, while he was still the senatorial
candidate for Borno central.
They averred that despite a letter of withdrawal dated July
6, 2022, Shettima “signed INEC senatorial election notice of withdrawal of
candidate form EC11C on July 15, 2022”.
INEC GUIDELINES AND
THE FCT 25% SAGA
Citing the failure to transmit results in real-time, the
petitioners submitted that the election ran contrary to relevant provisions of
the Electoral Act and INEC regulations.
“The pertinent question is, how can an election result that
lacks transparency, violates specific rules and regulations, palpably
compromised, not susceptible to verification by the admitted technological
platform introduced as an innovation for a transparent process, and contravenes
clear constitutional provisions, be rightly described as accurate and or
authentic,” the petitioners asked.
They also insisted that since Tinubu failed to score 25
percent of the votes polled in the federal capital territory (FCT), he ought
not to be returned as the winner of the poll.
“It is submitted that a purposive reading of Section 134(2),
Section 299 and the remainder provisions give us the conclusion that obtaining
25 percent votes in the FCT is an additional stand-alone requirement for
election into the office of the president or the FCT is only a state, together
with Nigeria’s 36 states, where the winning candidate must have obtained, at
least 25 percent in two-thirds of all states (37 states),” the petitioners
said.
“A literal reading of Section 134(2) of the Constitution
gives the interpretation that a winning candidate must have 25 percent of total
votes cast in two third of the states in the federation and the FCT, meaning
that a winning candidate must obtain 25 percent in 24 states and in the FCT.”
The petitioners prayed the court to uphold their arguments
and grant all the reliefs sought.
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Obi has no case. Abuja is not a super state. A candidate with the highest votes and at least 25% in 2/3 of states and Abuja is quite simple: it is 2/3 in 37 areas (or states if you will). 2/3 of 37 is 24.67. To give the candidate a break, let us say 24. Tinubu had 29 states. If Abuja is a must win for 25%, think for a moment, let's say a candidate scores at least 25% in 36 states except Abuja, and the person has the highest number of votes, is Obi saying that just because the person does not win 25% of Abuja that the person cannot be declared a winner? Obi has lost again. Hail Jagaban.
ReplyDeleteFrom what the petitioners have filed, none of them is claiming that they won the election, and no counter results presented. Is like this is showing that they didn’t win the election. What I see them filling is technicality to disqualify the APC candidate. None is disputing the result declared, in my view.
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