State governments have withdrawn a lawsuit from Supreme Court that sought to nullify Bola Tinubu’s emergence as Nigeria’s President-elect.
Mike Ozekhome, a senior lawyer who filed the action on behalf of six opposition states, said his chambers withdrew the suit because it had been overridden by events.
In a statement, Mr Ozekhome said: “The Supreme Court suit between the six states and AG Federation, which was filed during the flawed manual collation of results contrary to the clear provisions of the Electoral Act, the INEC Guidelines and Regulations and the manual for INEC officials, has been discontinued due to the fact that the flawed results have already been announced and a President-elect declared, albeit illegally and unconstitutionally. Having been overtaken by events, it will now be a tribunal matter.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission had on March 1 declared Mr Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress winner of the February 25 election in a controversial decision. Several arguments, chiefly the failure of INEC to follow extant laws on the transmission of results and Mr Tinubu’s failure to score 25 per cent of votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory, were raised by the opposition parties that include the Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party.
Mr Tinubu had said he won the election, acknowledging discrepancies as inconsequential to his overall performance and victory in the exercise.
Mr Ozekhome said states will now pursue the matter legally at the presidential election petitions tribunal, which is the traditional channel for resolving election disputes in the country.
The six states represented by Mr Ozekhome include Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and Sokoto.
