PEPC: Obi, Labour Party Reiterate Call For Nullification Of Tinubu’s Election
LAGOS JULY 22ND (NEWSRANGERS)-The Labour Party and its Presidential candidate, Peter Obi has stressed before the Presidential Election Petition Court that the Independent National Electoral Commission’s alleged failure to transmit the results of the presidential election electronically from the polling unit to its results viewing portal amounts to non-compliance with Electoral Act and other related regulations. View pictures in App save up to 80% data.
In their final written addresses, the petitioners urged the court to nullify President Bola Tinubu’s victory, asserting that both Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima were ineligible to contest the election. They argued that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was mistaken in declaring Tinubu as the winner since he did not secure 25 percent of votes in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). This stance formed a crucial part of the Labour Party and its candidate’s response to the joint final address by Tinubu and Shettima, where the latter sought the dismissal of the petition.
The Labour Party and their candidate claimed that they presented substantial evidence to support their case, calling upon 13 witnesses and submitting numerous documents. One key argument put forth by the petitioners was that Tinubu’s alleged involvement in forfeiture proceedings in a United States District Court should have disqualified him from standing for election, according to INEC regulations.
Emphasizing Tinubu’s failure to meet the 25 percent vote threshold in the FCT, the Labour Party and its Presidential candidate cited relevant judicial authorities and interpreted Section 299 to imply that the FCT should only be considered as a state in regards to the exercise and enjoyment of executive, legislative, and judicial powers by the President, National Assembly, and High Court on behalf of the FCT, without any additional status. According to the petitioners, the Constitution explicitly designates the FCT as a separate and distinct entity, treated similarly to any other state in Nigeria.
“Hence, the deliberate amendment of the drafters of the 1999 Constitution, to include the additional requirement of 25 percent votes in the FCT must not be rendered redundant as it is possible that the drafters intended that the popularity of the winning candidate must extend not only to an appreciable geographical spread, but also to the FCT being the capital city and melting pot for all Nigerians and which would truly reflect the will of all Nigerians.”
Source: AIT NEWS
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Posted by News Rangers
on Jul 22 2023. Filed under National.
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