Nigeria: Six states ask Supreme Court to nullify Tinubu’s win over Electoral Act violations
The presidential poll that produced Mr Tinubu has been questioned at the country's Supreme Court.
Six states in Nigeria - Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, and Sokoto have filed a suit before the country's Supreme Court, over the conduct of the February 25, 2023, presidential and National Assembly elections.
In what will be the first legal scrutiny of the just-concluded controversial presidential election, the states are asking the court to declare that the process of the election was not in compliance with the electoral act and that the nationwide failure to electronically transmit results from polling units, runs foul of multiple provisions of the electoral law.
The governors of the six states are members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) whose candidate Atiku Abubakar polled 6,984,520 votes to become runner-up to President-elect Bola Tinubu who polled 8,794,726.
The states are asking the Supreme Court to trash the result of the presidential election and declare it of no effect, a pronouncement that will effectively nullify the declaration of the Independent National Electoral Commission which named Mr Tinubu the winner of the election.
The suit is also seeking a declaration that the entire process of the presidential and national parliamentary elections did not comply with legal provisions and should be holistically reviewed with original result sheets signed at polling units.
Mike Ozekhome, the attorney for the states, asserted that the agents and officials of the federal government and the country's electoral body, INEC disregarded the requirements of the Electoral Act 2022, INEC Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of the Elections 2022, and the INEC Manual for Election Officials by failing to transmit the collated results using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), which is a flagrant violation of the applicable laws.
