INEC Appoints Nine SANs To Defend Election

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has appointed no fewer than nine Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) to defend the results of the February 25 presidential election.

According to City Lawyer, the team will be led by former Nigerian Bar Association President, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN).

Other members of the team are Stephen Adehi (SAN), Oluwakemi Pinheiro (SAN), Miannaya Essien (SAN), and Abdullahi Aliyu (SAN).

A member of the legal team revealed that four SANs who are staff members of INEC’s legal department are also members of the team alongside Garba Hassan, Musa Attah, and Patricia Obi.

The electoral body budgeted over N3bn to defend the results of the February 25 presidential and national assembly elections and the March 18 governorship and state assembly polls.

Several candidates who lost in the elections have filed petitions at the presidential and state election petition tribunals to challenge the outcome of the polls.

At the time of filing this report, over 100 election petitions have been filed by aggrieved candidates and their parties across the country.

The presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar; the Labour Party, Peter Obi; the Action Alliance, Solomon Okangbuan; Allied Peoples Movement, Chichi Ojei, have also filed petitions for the nullification of the presidential election results.