Tinubu, the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), in the February 25 election was declared winner by Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and returned as the president-elect.
The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal has again adjourned to Friday, May 19, the petition the Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi filed against the declaration of Bola Tinubu the winner of the February 25 presidential election.
Tinubu, the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), in the February 25 election was declared winner by Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and returned as the president-elect.
SaharaReporters reported that on March 1, 2023 the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof Mahmood Yakubu declared the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu as the winner and declared president-elect amid protest from the opposition parties.
According to the INEC declaration, Tinubu of the APC polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat fellow contenders – Atiku Abubakar of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) who polled 6,984,520 votes, Labour Party’s Peter Obi had 6,101,533 votes to come third and candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) Rabiu Kwankwaso with 1,496,687 votes.
Meanwhile opposition parties especially the PDP and LP have rejected and are challenging the outcome in election petition Tribunal.
When the tribunal reconvened on Wednesday, the court adjourned to Friday, May 19, 2023, to continue the pre-hearing of the petition against the “President-elect”, Bola Tinubu.
The court headed by Justice Haruna Tsammani fixed the date, following the failure of parties in the petition to agree on documents among other reasons.
Meanwhile the tribunal earlier refused to recognise any representative of the Labour Party except the 1st petitioner, Peter Obi who was in court.
The court presided over by Justice Haruna Tsammani reached the decision having been possibly intimated that there was a disagreement between two factions of the party before the court resumed proceedings.
When the matter was called, Obi stood up to announce his appearance followed by Dudu Manuga, the National Women’s Leader of the Party who sat close to Obi.
Meanwhile, before the court could record Manuga on the list, Lamidi Apapa quickly stood up to announce his appearance as the representative of the Labour Party.
However, Justice Haruna interjected and said, "It appears there was a little disagreement… We are not recognising any representative from the party.”