The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has presented its final written address in response to Peter Obi’s presidential election petition. Obi, the Labour Party’s candidate, challenged the outcome of the February 2023 presidential election, alleging electoral fraud and irregularities. INEC argued that Obi failed to demonstrate how he scored the majority of lawful votes during the election.
The commission dismissed the allegations against President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima, stating that Shettima voluntarily withdrew his candidacy for Borno Central Senatorial District to become Tinubu’s running mate. INEC also clarified that there was no evidence of criminal conviction or forfeiture against Tinubu for drug trafficking in the US.
Regarding the failure to upload polling unit results to the Result View Portal in real-time, INEC explained that a technical glitch occurred on the e-transmission application hosted by Amazon Web Services. This glitch was subsequently resolved.
In response to Obi’s contention that Tinubu failed to score 25% of lawful votes in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), INEC stated that the issue pertained to the interpretation of relevant constitutional provisions.
INEC’s lead lawyer, Abubakar Mahmoud, argued that Obi did not provide credible evidence to support his case and failed to show that Tinubu and Shettima were not qualified to contest the election. He emphasized that the Constitution only requires a candidate to have scored the highest number of votes cast and at least one-quarter of the votes cast in two-thirds of all states in the federation and the FCT.
The court is now expected to consider the arguments presented by both parties and make a ruling on the petition.
