Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, has petitioned the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal to challenge the declaration of All Progressives Congress (APC) President-elect Bola Tinubu as the winner of the 2023 presidential election.
This was seen in a court document dated March 20, 2023 filed before the Presidential Election Petition Court, sitting in Abuja, where Atiku and PDP joined INEC, Tinubu and APC as the defendants in the suit.
The Independent National Electoral Commission had announced Bola Tinubu as the winner of the election after which it declared him President-Elect.
In a similar event, SaharaReporters reported on Tuesday that the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, had also formally submitted a petition challenging the process leading to the outcome of the Presidential Election held on February 28, 2023.
The Chief Spokesman of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign of the Labour Party, Dr. Yunusa Tanko announced the submission of the petition in a tweet, in the early hours of Tuesday.
He had written, “It is official the Labor Party Presidential candidate Peter OBI has filed his petition to the presidential elections tribunal in Abuja. The process of reclaiming the people’s mandate has started.”
SaharaReporters had last week reported that Obi said he was not part of the nationwide #EndINEC”, “#ENDNigeria” protest.
Obi, who came third behind the Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, who came second with the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, being declared the winner and president-elect, had criticised the process of the election and questioned its credibility.
The former Anambra State governor had vowed to challenge both the process and outcome of the poll in court, insisting that as a believer in the rule of law, he would follow all legally allowed process to reclaim his “mandate.”
Obi who took to his official Twitter handle to react to “#ENDINEC”, “#ENDNigeria” protest being allegedly planned by Obidients, maintained “I have publicly stated that in the matter of reclaiming our stolen mandate, we shall do so robustly, via the Courts and Due Process.”
He wrote: “My attention has been drawn to social media postings suggesting that a nation-wide groundswell “#ENDINEC”, “#ENDNigeria” Protest is being planned by the Obidients.
“We are aware that those postings are being orchestrated by the Opposition.
“My position is clear: Without prejudice to constitutional dictates on freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, I have publicly stated that in the matter of reclaiming our stolen mandate, we shall do so robustly, via the Courts and Due Process.”
