Last Wednesday, online legal platform, Lawpadi, offered its legal opinion on the lawsuit filed by Peter Obi and the Labour Party (LP) against Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his running mate, Kashim Shettima, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
This week, as promised, Lawpadi, in its weekly newsletter, offered its views on the lawsuit filed by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Below, we bring you Lawpadi’s opinion verbatim:
“AS promised in last week’s newsletter, we reviewed the 223-page petition filed by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar (AAA) against INEC, and as you would imagine, there are a number of common arguments being made against the declaration of BAT [Bola Ahmed Tinubu] as the winner in the elections as were made in PO’s [Peter Obi’s] petition.
“AAA and his legal team argue the point about the FCT 25% requirement, they also argue the point about INEC not uploading the election results into IReV as required by the law (and INEC guidelines), and finally, they also argue the point about widespread corruption. Alleging that INEC engaged in corrupt practice and intentionally suppressed the votes in many locations, and specifically gave the instance of Sokoto, Kano, Kogi, Lagos, Rivers State; with instances of intimidation and harassment, destruction of electoral material, mutilation of result sheets, etc.
“AAA and his legal team do however did make one key new argument which PO did not/could not make.
“Margin of Lead
“AAA alleges that the difference in votes between himself and BAT as announced by INEC is 1,810,206 votes, and that elections were cancelled and did not hold in certain polling units across the country, and if one were to add the total number of PVCs in those polling units, that is more than the margin. AAA is therefore arguing that if the cancelled elections were held, he still had a mathematical possibility to win, and therefore the announcement of the results by INEC was premature and therefore invalid.
“What does the law say?
“Regulation 67 of the INEC Elections Regulations 2022 says that where the margin of lead between the two leading candidates is not in excess of the total number of collected PVCs of the Polling Units where elections were not held or were cancelled in line with Sections 24(2&3), 47(3) and 51(2) of the Electoral Act 2022, the Returning Officer shall decline to make a return until polls have taken place in the affected Polling Units and the results collated into a new Form EC8D(A) and subsequently recorded into Form EC8E for Declaration and Return.
“Lawpadi verdict – This is a strong argument.
“One thing to point out in AAA’s case is that although he does mention that BAT was ineligible to contest in the election, he curiously does not make any reference to any of the arguments made by PO. No reference to the issue of Shettima’s ineligibility, and no reference to BAT’s alleged drug case, he just says he was not qualified to contest – with no supporting argument as to why he is making that assertion. It is the shortest ground in the petition (see below).
“So, what happens next?
“Now that the petitions have been filed, the ball is in the court of INEC, BAT and the APC to file their responses.
“They have 21 days to respond to the petition with their own position and their own side (with facts to back it up). If the response brings up any new facts, then the petitioner has 5 days to respond.
“Thank you once again for being a subscriber and see you next week!
“Best, Tunde for Lawpadi Team.”
