President-Elect Bola Tinubu Archives

April 13, 2023

Tinubu makes TIME 100 list of Most Influential People in the world

Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria’s president-elect was named in TIME 100 most influential people for 2023, sharing the honour with Joe Biden, president of the US and Anthony Albanese, prime minister of Australia.

Also listed in the category of leaders is the new Brazilian leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Time Magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world accords recognition to people “for changing the world, regardless of the consequences of their actions”, the Cable reports.

“Influence is hard to measure, and what we look for is people whose ideas, whose example, whose talent, whose discoveries transform the world we live in.

“Influence is less about the hard power of force than the soft power of ideas and example,” Richard Stengal, former editor of Times, was quoted to have said .

The list, released on Thursday, placed the individuals in five categories: Titans, pioneers, artists, leaders, and icons.

In a citation written by Astha Rajvanshi, Tinubu was described as a “longtime political power broker”, who had nearly two decades to prepare for the presidency.

Winning an election in Africa’s most populous country is no easy feat, Rajvanshi wrote in the online report.

But Nigeria’s newly elected President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has had nearly two decades to prepare. Called Jagaban, or “leader of the warriors,” by his supporters, the now 71-year-old ran in a presidential election for the first time this March. His campaign slogan, “It’s my turn,” was a nod to his role as a longtime political power broker. Tinubu helped restore the country’s democracy in 1999 after fighting military rule and then served two consecutive terms as governor of Lagos.

But Tinubu’s win with the ruling All Progressives Congress Party came in a fraught election and by a slim margin over Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi. It was the first time Nigerian voters contended with a third-party candidate, and many discontented young Nigerians yearning for change pinned their hopes on Obi. Marred by allegations of intimidation and vote rigging, the outcome of the ballot is being challenged in court.

Tinubu now faces a litany of crises in a fractured nation, including deep-rooted corruption, religious insurgencies, and shortages of cash, fuel, and power in a crumbling economy. But the President-elect seems aware of his inheritance: “[Nigeria] is one country and we must build it together,” he said in his acceptance speech.

April 13, 2023

Tinubu’s victory stunned foreign commentators – FG

Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Economist, President-Elect Bola Tinubu

Many foreign commentators were stunned by the outcome of the 2023 Nigerian Presidential election because of their pre-poll wrong mindset, the Federal Government has said.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated this in London during his engagements with some international media organisations and Think Tanks.

The minister is in London to defend the legitimacy of the just concluded general elections and correct the imbalance in the skewed narratives which had pervaded the air regarding the polls.

The minister has so far engaged with three international media organisations, The Economist, The Guardian and African Confidential, as well as Think Tank, Royal African Society.

During his respective meetings with them, the minister said some of the commentators had the wrong mindset that the Labour Party and its Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi, would win the election.

He said the wrong mindset was premised on the hyped activities of the Labour Party and their supporters on the social media, as well as the outcomes of various opinion polls which were unrepresentative of the situation in Nigeria.

“In the course of my interactions, particularly with the Economist, I referred them to an earlier article they wrote, in which they rated the Labour Party Presidential candidate as the front runner in the polls.

“I explained to them that there was no way a presidential candidate who has no political spread and a grassroots base could win an election in Nigeria.

“I also explained to them that many of them were ignorant of the constitutional requirements for a presidential candidate to win an election in Nigeria.

“For instance, not only that the candidate must have the plurality of votes, he must also have one-quarter of the total votes cast in at least 25 states of the federation.

The minister added: “When you look at the results, only the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress and the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, met these requirements.

“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Atiku Abubakar, came short of these because he came second and had 25 per cent in 21 states.

“Obi came far behind with 25 per cent in 15 states.

“This means that Obi, who was wrongly adjudged as a front runner in the election, was virtually unknown and unpopular in 22 states,“ he said.

Mohammed reiterated his position that there was no pathway to victory for either Atiku or Obi in the poll because they did not meet the conditions to be declared president.

“For any party to ignore the North-East and the North-West Zones of Nigeria during a presidential election, it will be impossible for it to win.

“The election had thrown up a lot of surprises and it is precisely those surprises that made it credible and transparent, “he said.

On the issue of large turnout of youths for voter registration before the election, the minister explained that winning an election was beyond registration.

`What INEC did was to ensure the extension of voter registration exercise for about 18 months so that people will not be disenfranchised.

“However, it is one thing to register to vote and it is another thing to come out to vote on an election day.

“Those 24 million people that came out to vote during the polls were the authentic people that concluded the processes of election,” he said.

The minister said INEC should be praised for the introduction and the strict usage of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).

He said BVAS was a technology that paved the way for check-and-balance and prevented fraud and other irregularities during the elections.

According to the minister, BVAS cut out fraudulent votes, ghost voters and multiple votes.

Mohammed said from the outcome of his engagements so far, the international community had come to the viewpoint that the 2023 elections were the fairest and most transparent in Nigeria history.

From 2nd left, Keyamo, Ajuri, Sunday Dare in Washington D.C.

April 12, 2023

Opposition members sore losers, hypocrites: Tinubu’s team says in Washington D.C.

2023 elections, President-Elect Bola Tinubu

TEXT OF THE PARLEY HELD WITH THE U.S. MEDIA AT THE NATIONAL PRESS CENTER, WASHINGTON D.C, UNITED STATES ON WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12TH, 2023 BY REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PRESIDENT-ELECT, SENATOR BOLA AHMED TINUBU – MR. FESTUS KEYAMO, SAN (CHIEF SPOKESPERSON AND MINISTER OF STATE, LABOUR); MR. SUNDAY DARE (MINISTER OF YOUTH AND SPORTS); MR. AJURI NGELALE (ASST. PRINCIPAL SPOKESPERSON).

(1) It is our pleasure and privilege to welcome you to the National Press Center in Washington D.C for this interactive session on Nigeria’s Presidential Election, 2023. We do not intend to make this a long-winding and boring session, so we shall go straight to the points we intend to make to clear some of the fallacies that have been peddled around the world by the sore losers at the said election.

PREPARATION FOR THE ELECTIONS: A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD

(2) The country’s out-going President, Muhammadu Buhari, signed into law a Bill that seeks to improve our electoral process by introducing technology as a means of accrediting voters at the polling units. This is known as the ELECTORAL ACT, 2022. The opposition and international observers hailed him on this.

(3) There was also complete non-interference in the political process by State institutions. There were no reports of deployment of security agents or State apparati in support of the candidate of the ruling party. In fact, in some instances, the opposition celebrated the fact that our candidate had no support of the Government. These led to well-published reports (albeit false) that the President was not in support of the candidate of his own party.
THE STATE OF THE LEADING PARTIES BEFORE THE ELECTIONS

(4) The ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) controlled 21 out of the 36 States of the country and the FCT before the elections with elected Governors; whilst the main opposition, the People’s Demoratic Party (PDP) had 14 Governors and the All Progressives Grand Alliance had one Governor. The Labour Party had no single Governor or elected official at any level of Government.

(5) About eight months to the elections, the main opposition, the PDP, suffered some major set-backs. Its Vice-Presidential Candidate in 2019, Mr. Peter Obi moved to the Labour Party with his supporters, mainly from his region of origin, the South-East. Another of the Party’s main pillar of support in the North-West, Alhaji Musa Kwakwanso moved to the New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP), taking with him a chunk of the party’s supporters in that region. Five (5) out of the 14 Governors of the PDP, publicly announced they would not be campaigning for or supporting its Presidential Candidate (Alhaji Atiku Abubakar). Meanwhile, the ruling party remained one huge, indivisible entity with no departure of any of its elected officials or public dissent from them. It was in this state of affairs that all the parties went into the elections.

THE ELECTION OF FEBRUARY 25TH, 2023

(6) Contrary to the false outcry by the opposition, the main technological device, Bi-modal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) did not fail on the election day. All the local and international observers scored the use of BVAS very high, with one local body called YIAGA, working in coalition with the EU and other International Observers, saying it recorded 88% success in all the polling units it monitored. The Nigeria Bar Association also issued its report saying only 8 percent of voters were not satisfied with the process on that day. The portal that the opposition made so much noise about, IREV, is just a viewing portal, which has nothing to do with accreditation or verification of voters or even the counting or recording of votes.

(7) Whilst we hold no brief for the Electoral Commission, it sufficiently explained to Nigerians the next day that the delay in uploading the results to the viewing portal was as a result of a technical glitch. And since the results have since been uploaded eventually, none of the parties have produced their own copies of the result sheets obtained at various polling units that substantially contradicts the results released and announced by the Electoral Commission. Even in their Election Petitions presently before the Court, no such alternative figures have been provided. So, what is all the fuss about?

(8) It is significant to note that some other elections into the Senate and House of Representatives held on the same day, at the same time and with the same personnel. The opposition candidates have since gleefully gone to collect their Certificates of Return for the various seats they won. Why did they not reject the outcome of those elections too and reject their Certificate of Return? This is hypocrisy taken too far.

THE RESULT OF THE ELECTION
(9) On Wednesday, the 1st of March, 2023, the Electoral Commission announced the results as follows:
§ APC – 8,794,726 (36.61%)
§ PDP – 6,984,520 (29.07%)
§ LP – 6,101,533 (25.40%)
§ NNPP – 1,496,687(6.23%)

Other smaller parties scored some negligible figures.

(10) The winner, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu has since collected his Certificate of Return and the Transition Committees are working hard towards a smooth transition.
THE ANALYSES AND CREDIBILITY OF THE RESULTS

(11) Our Constitution requires a Presidential candidate to secure the highest number of votes and score at at least one-quarter of the votes in two-thirds of the States of the Federation which includes the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Only Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu met these requirements especially that of the spread (he scored 25 percent and above in 29 States), even though all 3 top candidates won 12 States each. The candidate of the PDP scored 25% and above in just 21 States, falling short of the 24 States required and the candidate of the Labour Party scored 25% and above in 15 States plus the Federal Capital Territory, making it 16 States. There was just no pathway to victory for these candidates who did not have the requisite national acceptability. So, how tenable is the claim of rigging the elections? We see none

(12) It is significant to note that the elections were so credible that it threw up some upsets in our otherwise settled demography. For the first time, 20 sitting Governors lost their States, mostly those of the ruling party. Seven Governors who sought elections into the Senate failed to scale through. This has never happened in the history of Nigeria. In addition, the President-Elect lost his home State (Lagos State); the sitting President lost his home State (Katsina State); the Director-General of the Campaign lost his home State (Plateau State); the ruling Party Chairman lost his home State (Nasarawa State); the Chairman of the ruling Party’s Governor Forum lost his home State (Kebbi State) and the ruling party lost some of its traditional strong holds like Yobe State, Kaduna State and Kano State. All these go to show that it was a keenly contested election and one of the most credible in our history.

(13) The reports of some irregularities and violence in some polling units could not have affected the overall outcome of the elections too. There are 176,974 polling units in Nigeria and infractions and violence were recorded in less than one percent of these units. How could these have affected the overall results of the elections? Whilst we look forward to an era when there would be no single casualty during elections in Nigeria, however, the statistics show that 2023 recorded the lowest casualty rates ever. During the 1964/65 elections about 200 deaths were recorded as a result of election violence; 1993 election recorded 100 deaths; 1999 election recorded 80 deaths; 2003 polls recorded 100 deaths and 2007 polls recorded 300 deaths. The 2011 polls recorded 800 deaths, the 2015 polls recorded 100 deaths and the 2019 polls recorded 150 deaths. However, the 2023 polls recorded no more than 28 deaths as a result of election violence. So, the claim that this is the “worst” election so far is totally unfounded.

(14) In conclusion, our laws have provided for settled means by which election disputes are resolved. The aggrieved parties have taken advantage of this remedy by filing their cases in Court. We urge them to have faith in our judicial system and desist from spreading false tales about our election across the world.
Meanwhile, arrangements for the handover ceremonies are in full gear. The President-Elect will take his Oath of Office as President of Nigeria on May 29th, 2023. You are all invited.
Thank you.

FESTUS KEYAMO, SAN, FCIArb (UK)
For and on behalf of the team

April 12, 2023

Erdogan joins world leaders in congratulating President-elect Tinubu

President Tayyip Erdogan, President-Elect Bola Tinubu

PRESS RELEASE

Turkish President Erdoğan congratulates Tinubu as Nigeria’s next leader

President Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey, has joined the list of world leaders that have sent congratulory and goodwill messages to Nigeria’s President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

President Xi Jinping of China, United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, President of France, Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, are among global leaders that have since sent goodwill messages to Asiwaju Tinubu.

In his congratulatory letter, President Erdoğan, who described Asiwaju Tinubu as a brother, called for mutual cooperation and partnership that would further the friendly relationship between Turkey and Nigeria.

Erdoğan, in his letter, also underscored the importance of Nigeria as the “strongest nation in the African continent” while wishing Asiwaju Tinubu a successful tenure of office that will usher in progress for the people of Nigeria.

President Erdoğan wrote:
“On behalf of the Turkish Nation and my own, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Your Excellency on the occasion of your election as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at the elections held on February 25, 2023.

“I believe that as our strategic partner, Nigeria, under your leadership, will continue its course to a prosperous future. Türkiye attaches great importance to improving its relations with Nigeria, as the strongest nation in the African continent.

“With this understanding, I have no doubt that with our joint efforts we will develop the friendly relations and the growing close cooperation between our countries to the mutual benefit of our people.

“I avail myself of this opportunity to express my heartfelt wishes for the health and happiness of Your Excellency, as well as, the wellbeing and prosperity of the friendly people of Nigeria.”

Office of the President-Elect
Tunde Rahman
April 12, 2023

INEC chairman Yakubu, Tinubu and his wife Senator Remi Tinubu

April 12, 2023

INEC replies Atiku: President-elect Tinubu did not need 25% of votes in FCT

Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC), President-Elect Bola Tinubu

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Tuesday, told the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) that Sen. Bola Tinubu, did not need to win 25 percent of the votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory to be declared winner of the election.

INEC stated this in its reply by its lawyer, Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, to the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, before the tribunal.

INEC said the APC candidate met all the legal requirements to be so announced as the winner of the election.

It argued that a candidate must not secure 25 per cent votes in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to be declared winner, because the FCT was not accorded any special status in the constitution as being erroneously portrayed by some political parties and candidates who lost the election.

On why it returned Tinubu as the winner, INEC said the APC candidate scored 25 per cent of the valid votes cast in 29 states of the federation.

“Having scored at least one-quarter of the valid votes cast in 29 states, which is over and above the 2/3 states threshold required by the constitution, in addition to scoring the majority of the lawful votes cast at the election, the 2nd respondent was properly declared winner and returned as the president-elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“The 2nd respondent, having scored 25 per cent of the valid votes cast in the 29 states, has satisfied the requirement of the constitution to be declared winner of the presidential election, thus rendering the requirement of having 25 per cent of the valid votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory unnecessary”, the commission said.

“The 1st respondent denies that scoring 25 per cent of the votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory is a condition precedent to the declaration and return of a candidate in the presidential election,” it said.

INEC added that by the margin of lead, it did not act hastily, as claimed by Atiku and the PDP in declaring Tinubu the winner of the election.

It stressed that Tinubu scored “25 per cent of the valid votes cast in 29 states of the Federation to wit: Ekiti, Kwara, Osun. Ondo, Ogun, Oyo, Yobe, Lagos, Gombe, Adamawa, Katsina, Jigawa, Nasarawa, Niger, Benue, Akwa Ibom, Edo, Kogi, Bauchi, Plateau, Bayelsa, Kaduna, Kebbi, Kano, Zamfara, Sokoto, Taraba, Borno and Rivers.”

While faulting the petitioners’ claim on the status of the FCT, INEC argued that “the provisions of the constitution apply to the FCT as if it were one of the states of the Federation.

The commission also argued that the use of the word ‘and’ in Section 134 (2) of the Constitution indicates nothing more than that in construing two-thirds of the states of the federation in which a candidate is required to score one-quarter of the votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory.”

It argued that by the provision of the constitution, the FCT “has the status of a state and ought to be recognised as if it was a state of the federation.”

It added that the FCT, beyond being the country’s capital, ‘has no special constitutional status over and above the other 36 states of the Federation to require a candidate in the presidential election to obtain at least 25 per cent of the votes cast in the FCT before being declared winner of the presidential election.

“The Federal Capital Territory is regarded as the 37 state of the federation and as such, a candidate needs to score 25 per cent of the valid votes cast in at least two-thirds of 37 states ( to be declared as winner in the presidential election).’

Abubakar, 1st petitioner and PDP, 2nd petitioner, in the petition marked: CA/PEPC/05/2023, had listed INEC, Tinubu and APC as 1st to 3rd respondents respectively.

The petitioners are seeking the nullification of the election victory of Tinubu in the Feb 25 presidential poll.

Tinubu, who defeated 17 other candidates who took part in the election, scored a total of 8,794,726 votes, the highest of all the candidates.

While former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came second with 6,984,520 votes in the poll; Obi came third with 6,101,533 votes.

However, the petitioners are asking the tribunal to set aside Tinubu’s victory and to declare Abubakar winner of the election.

They want an order mandating INEC to retrieve the certificate of return issued to the APC candidate or in the alternative conduct a fresh election.

Abubakar and PDP are contending that Tinubu was not duly elected by majority of the lawful votes cast during the poll and that INEC violated its own regulations and provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022, in the election conduct.

INEC argued that the declaration and return of Tinubu was not wrongful and was made in accordance with the provisions of Section 134 (2) (b) of the Constitution, having scored one quarter (25%) of the valid votes cast in 29 states which is beyond the constitutional threshold for such declaration.

It argued that, as against the request by Atiku and his party, he could not be declared winner by the tribunal because he failed to fulfil the constitutional requirement.

“The 1st petitioner (Atiku), failed to score, at least, one quarter of the votes cast in at least two-thirds of the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory and as such could not have been declared the winner of the Presidential Election held on the 25th day of February 2023.”

As against the claim by the petitioners, INEC stated that “the election was conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022 and was not marred by any corrupt practices.

‘That the 2nd respondent (Tinubu) was duly elected by a majority of lawful votes cast in the election and his declaration and return as winner of the presidential election conducted on the 25th day of February, 2023 is lawful, valid and in line with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Electoral Act, 2022.

“Having satisfied the requirements of Section 134 (2) (b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, the return of the 2nd respondent as the winner of the presidential election conducted on 25th February, 2023 is lawful, valid and constitutional.

“The 2nd respondent was at the time of the election qualified to contest the election.

“The petitioners neither scored the majority of the lawful votes cast at the election nor scored not less than one-quarter of the lawful votes cast in at-least two-thirds of the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory and therefore the 1st petitioner (Atiku) is not entitled to be returned as the winner of the presidential election conducted on Feb. 25.”
INEC, therefore, urged the court to dismiss the petition

Betta Edu, middle, gives out the food packs on behalf of Tinubu

April 12, 2023

Tinubu, wife Oluremi donate 100K food packs to Muslims, Christians

Betta Edu, President-Elect Bola Tinubu, Senator Oluremi Tinubu

The President-elect Bola Tinubu and his wife, Senator Oluremi have donated over 100,000 combo packs of food items to Muslims and Christians in Abuja.

The donations were made on their behalf by the National Women Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Betta Edu.

At the commencement of the donations at the National Mosque, Abuja, Edu said that the gesture was in the spirit of Easter celebration and Ramadan fast for both Christians and Muslims.

She said that the idea behind the donations was to show love to Nigerians as she called on everyone to pursue peace, security and p pray for the country during this period.

She enjoined Nigerians to reflect and pray for the nation’s unity, peace, love, security and more blessings for the country.

“The President-elect and his wife actually asked us to be here to distribute combo packs to Muslim faithful during this period of Ramadan which of course is a period of giving and love.

“We will also reach out to the Christians faithful. Different churches within the FCT and its environs will be receiving this combo packs in the spirit of Easter celebration.

“Let us pursue peace, Nigeria belongs to all of us and everyone has a role to play in nation’s building ” Edu said.

She called for unity amongst Nigerians so as to enable peace and national development.

“Let us come together as one nation under God to ensure that we see the development that we wish for our children by working together to achieve the sets objectives, ” she said.

Edu urged Nigerians to support the President-elect and his deputy, assuring Nigerians that she has no doubt that they would make a difference.

At the Wuse Zone 3 Mosque, Imaan Suleiman-Ibraham, the Director-General, National Commission for Refugees, said that Nigerians had worked hard in the last few months to ensure a good leader emerged as president of the country.

“In the last few months, we worked together so hard to ensure that we actualise the Nigerians dream.

“It is important for us to come together now to pray to achieve the Nigeria of our dreams and I believed that Tinubu’s government is going to be for everybody.

“We will be distributing over 100,000 of this max combo pack in the Mosques and churches.

“They actually contain different food items to Christians for the Easter celebration and to Muslims during the Ramadan fast, ” she said.

Salihu Bala, the Director, Muslim Community Center, Abuja, appreciated the President-elect and his wife for this gesture, while praying for Allah’s blessings upon his family.

He assured the delegation that the items donated would be distributed to the needy among them in the Mosque.

He also prayed for a peaceful hand over of government in May 29, and wished Tinubu a successful tenure.

Bala also donated some copies of the holy Quran to the President-elect on behalf of the Mosque, which where received by Suleiman-Ibrahim.

April 11, 2023

Since God did not stop Tinubu, No power can rob him of Presidency

Governor Dave Umahi, President-Elect Bola Tinubu

Gov. David Umahi of Ebonyi, on Tuesday said no power can deprive the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, of his mandate, since God did not stop him from winning.

Umahi, who made the assertion in Abakaliki, dedicated the victory of the All Progressives Congress in the State and across the country to God.

According to him, those seeking to upturn the victories at the tribunal are simply wasting their time and resources.

“APC as a Party merited all it got at the polls,” the added.

He advised those thinking they would rob Tinubu of his mandate to have a re-think because he cannot be stopped.

“When people say they are going to Court or going to tribunal, I just laugh because there is no power or force that can remove Tinubu from being the President of Nigeria. This is because the time God would have stopped him, God allowed him.

“Because God allowed him, no man can stop him.

“And this extreme politics should be de-emphasized in Nigeria, so we can move forward for a better Nigeria,” Umahi said.

April 11, 2023

INEC tells Tribunal: Tinubu duly elected, Obi’s prayers not grantable

Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC), Peter Obi, President-Elect Bola Tinubu, Senator Kashim Shettima

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has asked the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) to dismiss a petition filed by Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, saying the reliefs sought are not grantable.

The commission argued that while Shettima, the vice president-elect, was duly nominated and sponsored to contest the election.

It also said that Tinubu and Shettima were duly declared and returned as elected and issued Certificates of Return having fulfilled the requirements of the constitution to be declared winners and returned.

INEC, the 1st respondent, stated this in its reply filed on Monday night at the PEPC’s Secretariat by its lawyer, Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, in Abuja.

The commission prayed the court to either “dismiss or strike out the petition for being grossly incompetent, abusive, vague, nebulous, generic, general, non-specific, ambiguous, equivocal, hypothetical and academic.”

Obi, the 1st petitioner, and LP, the 2nd petitioner, had sued INEC, Sen. Bola Tinubu, Sen. Kashim Shettima and All Progressives Congress (APC) as 1st to 4th respondents respectively.

The petitioners are seeking the nullification of the election victory of Tinubu and Shettima in the Feb 25 presidential poll.

Tinubu, who defeated 17 other candidates who took part in the election, scored a total of 8,794,726 votes, the highest of all the candidates.

While former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came second with 6,984,520 votes in the poll; Obi came third with 6,101,533 votes.

Abubakar and PDP are also challenging the outcome of the poll in a separate petition.

However, in the petition marked: CA/PEPC/03/2023 filed by Obi and LP’s lead counsel, Livy Ozoukwu, they contended that Tinubu “was not duly elected by majority of the lawful votes cast at the time of the election.”

The petitioners claimed there was rigging in 11 states, adding that they would demonstrate this in the declaration of results based on the uploaded results.

They said INEC violated its own regulations when it announced the result despite the fact that at the time of the announcement, the totality of the polling unit results had yet to be fully scanned, uploaded and transmitted electronically as required by the Electoral Act, among others.

In its notice of preliminary objection, INEC argued that the grounds on which the petition was based were defective, having regard to the vague and imprecise averments supporting the said grounds.

It said that the ground of the petitioners bordering on non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 and corrupt practices did not disclose a reasonable cause of action for failure to plead specific particulars and figures as to how the alleged non-compliance complained of substantially affected the results of the election.

It said in view of the above argument, “Prayers 3, 5(i) and 5(11) of the petition predicated on the ground of non-compliance in Paragraph 20(11) of the petition are ungrantable.”

It further said that the ground of the petition that Tinubu was not elected by majority of lawful votes cast as contained in Paragraph 20(iii) of the petition was defective for failure to plead the alleged unlawful votes to be deducted and/or lawful votes to be credited to the petitioners.

INEC argued that the petitioners’ prayer to declare that Obi scored majority of lawful votes cast at the election and be declared winner was defective for failure to join necessary parties and for lack of requisite particulars and pleading to support same.

The commission said that though Obi was a candidate at the election, it however disagreed that denies that he has a right to be returned as elected, “not having polled majority of the lawful votes cast at the election and /or secured one quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all states in the federation and the FCT.”

The commission said all political parties intending to sponsor candidates in the election were required to submit lists of their agents and they were expected to observe the election process at their units, sign and collect result sheets on behalf of their political parties at the close of polls.

It argued that some of the political party agents whose names were on the list submitted to it were however absent at their polling units while some others who were present neglected to participate in the election process.

According to INEC, the petitioners (Obi and LP) did not have polling agents in all the polling units across Nigeria as they only submitted a list of 134, 874 polling agents which is 41, 972 short of the 176, 846 polling units across Nigeria.

It disagreed with the petitioners, insisting that they were not represented in many or some of the polling units in the country.

The commission argued that while Shettima, the vice president-elect, was duly nominated and sponsored to contest the election, it also said that Tinubu and Shettima were duly declared and returned as elected and issued Certificates of Return having fulfilled the requirements of the constitution to be declared winners and returned.

April 10, 2023

In Birthday message, Tinubu praises Adebanjo for role in progressive politics

Ayo Adebanjo, President-Elect Bola Tinubu

PRESS RELEASE

President-elect Tinubu greets Baba Adebanjo at 95, praises his contributions to progressive good governance

President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has congratulated a leader of the Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, on his 95th birthday.

While thanking God on behalf of Baba for the gift of longevity, the President-elect praised Pa Adebanjo for his contributions to progressive politics and good governance in the country.

The elder statesman is one of the few remaining disciples of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

Asiwaju Tinubu noted with admiration Pa Adebanjo’s consistency over the years in fighting for good governance and social justice in Nigeria.

The President-elect particularly commended Pa Adebanjo for his leading role in the fight against military dictatorship, his pro-democracy struggles in NADECO and remarkable leadership within the Afenifere fold.

In a statement from his office, the President-elect said: “I congratulate Baba Ayo Adebanjo on attaining 95 in good health. Baba is one of the few remaining disciples of our late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

“Papa Adebanjo has remained consistent in sustaining the ideals of progressive good governance and social justice.

“I salute his courage over the years and the useful role he has played in ensuring that Nigeria remains a strong, united and prosperous country.

“We pray that Almighty Allah grant Baba more years so he can witness the dawn of a new era where the hopes of our people for a better, stronger, more secure and more prosperous Nigeria will not only be renewed but come to full realisation.

“I wish Baba Adebanjo good health, renewed strength and, above all, continued grace of God.”

Office of the President-elect,
Tunde Rahman.
April 10, 2023

April 10, 2023

LP was like hurricane: Real reasons Peter Obi lost, Tinubu won

Labour Party, Peter Obi, President-Elect Bola Tinubu

Chairman Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof Itse Sagay has explained why Bola Ahmed Tinubu won the February 25 presidential election and why Atiku Abubakar of PDP and Peter Obi of Labour Party lost.

Sagay, a phone-in guest on Sunday Politics, a Channels Television programme, also discredited numerous opinion polls that tipped Obi ahead of other contenders in the race.

“I was not surprised that Tinubu won. I had no faith in those polls. You just pick up your phones, sought views in urban areas.

“Look, do you know the views in massive northern population? Were they contacted? Nobody contacted them and their views were not taken into consideration. So, it was poorly exercised polls.

“It is a very unfortunate thing that those polls set up the stage that the LP was going to win. I, throughout the exercise of the polls, was just laughing.

“You picked up views of few in the urban centres to represent Nigeria when Nigeria has massive rural population.

“That was why there was such a contradiction between the results of those polls and the eventual result of the election. Those polls were not credible.”

He said: “For those who were very upset about the result because they were expecting to win, they have resorted to the court for objective jurists to look at the issue.

“And even if they fail at that level, they should look up to another four years when there will be general election.

“It is not a one-time exercise; it is something that will be done every four years and what I will suggest and advice those who failed, particularly, the LP is to go to the grassroots and begin to organise. They had no organisation.

“If you look at the performance of the Labour Party during the governorship election, it was an indication that the LP has no root in the country but was clearly a hurricane that just blew through the land at the time.

“So, what I will suggest to them is to begin to put their root on the ground instead of quarrelling, fighting and abusing everybody. They should start planning and organising in Tinubu’s way.

“We have to give to him (Tinubu) that he is a super organiser. This election showed that organisation in which his victory spread across the whole country except the Southeast.

“So, the LP has to begin to plan and organise in preparation for the next election in 2027. But, if they fail to do so, that will be a disaster.”

Dismissing allegation of wide manipulation of the poll, the eminent lawyer said the general election was credible.

He said the president-elect had good organisation and planning in place.

According to him Tinubu’s widespread victory, validated Tinubu’s ability to plan ahead.

He said he was not surprised over the outcome of the election, as the president-elect had super organisation and planning far ahead of others.

These, he added, gave him an edge over others in the race.

Attesting that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) worked so well in the last election, the senior advocate appealed to those that lost out to allow the judiciary to do its job without any threat.

Sagay, who admitted that there were few challenges with the election, said the election was the best in Nigeria in comparison to past elections.

He said: “There could be few challenges, but no evidence of large manipulation of the election as being claimed. The BVAS was used successfully.

“Can you imagine the All Progressives Congress (APC) losing Lagos? I mean that should tell you that the BVAS worked. For that to happen, that tells you that the election was credible.

“It is unheard of for APC to lose Lagos in over 23 years.

In other areas like the Northwest, Atiku won because he comes from that side.

“But what made Tinubu to win was that where he was not number one, he was closely number two. This election is the best Nigeria has ever had.

“Tinubu was number one in the Southwest, number one in the North-central.

“Look at the north’s results, where Tinubu was not number one, he was close number two. So, he was able to marshal votes all over the country except in the Southeast. The others were not able to achieve this feat.”

On the judiciary, Sagay said: “I pray that the Nigerian judiciary, particularly the Supreme Court lives up to expectation because it is the highest court in the land. So, let the judges go into this matter, look at it judicially and judiciously, using all their knowledge and experiences to do the needful.

“Let them not handle the case due to pressure or threat by anybody. I pray the judiciary in the end, takes right decision in this case.”

Adapted from The Nation

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Tag: President-Elect Bola Tinubu