Presidential Election: Why the Independent Electoral Commission should not have declared Tinubu the winner over Obi Ozwane
A senior advocate for Nigeria, Emeka Ozoani (SAN), said the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, should not declare the 2023 presidential election winner of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, the Progressive Congress.
According to him, a presidential candidate cannot be declared legally and constitutionally victorious if that candidate fails to win the Federal Capital District.
Paula Tinubu could not win the FCT in the just concluded presidential election. Abuja lost to Labor Party candidate Peter Obi.
The chief lawyer said in a statement on Tuesday: “It is not legally and constitutionally possible to declare the winner in the presidential elections any presidential candidate who did not win the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja.
“The only path available to INEC is to call for a new candidacy.”
“Section 133(b), last paragraph of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended bears witness to this,” SAN told the Tribune.
According to the results read out by Independent National Electoral Commission Chairman Mahmoud Yakubu, Tinubu polled a total of 8,794,726 to defeat his closest rivals and HDP candidates, PDP Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi of the Workers’ Party. , LP’s which scored 6,984, 520, and 6,101,533, respectively.
The former Lagos state chief also achieved 25 per cent of the votes from 24 states as stipulated in the 2022 Election Act as amended.
Presidential Election: Why the Independent Electoral Commission should not have declared Tinubu the winner over Obi Ozwane
