Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), has said there is no constitutional provision that supports delaying the scheduled inauguration of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu on May 29, 2023.
Since Tinubu was declared the winner of the 2023 presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission, there have been allegations of rigging by opposition parties, with some members of the opposition calling for the suspension of the inauguration till the election petition tribunal determines the cases before it challenging Tinubu’s victory.
However, Agbakoba on Tuesday said, “Amidst ongoing election tribunal petitions, it is crucial to emphasize that the inauguration of Mr. Bola Tinubu on May 29, 2023, is an event that will transpire within the bounds of our constitutional process.
“As we navigate through the tribunal proceedings, it is important to recognize that there is no constitutional provision to delay the scheduled inauguration on the designated date of 29 May 2023.
“In upholding the principles of constitutionalism, we must adhere to the rule of law and respect the established processes outlined in our constitution.
“Respecting constitutional norms is fundamental to upholding the foundation of our democratic system.”
According to the senior lawyer, the remedy “is to speed up the election petition process to avoid inaugurating a president-elect when there is a pending petition”.
In April, Agbakoba advised the Nigerian judiciary, in particular, the arm responsible for deciding on presidential election petition matters, to decide and make a judgement on such matters within seven days of receiving the petition.
Agbakoba disclosed this while speaking on Arise TV.
He added that a candidate must score 25 per cent in Abuja to be declared the winner of a presidential election.
“As far as I am concerned, you must also win 25% in FCT, but it's not for me to say. The tribunal can answer this question quite easily in one hour. It's not a difficult question,” the lawyer had stated.
This came as Nigerians were struggling to interpret Section 133 (1) (b) of the Nigerian Constitution, which said a candidate can only be declared president if “he has not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the States in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.”
But the lawyer insisted that the Constitution separated FCT entirely in the instance under discussion.
He further argued that with what was going on, the political atmosphere in the country had become unnecessarily charged.
The lawyer said that if only the right thing could be done—which is to resolve the election petition matter—then normalcy would be restored.