Two losing presidential candidates, from Nigeria’s main opposition parties, have gone to the Supreme Court to challenge the dismissal of their cases against the victory of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as president in February’s election.
An election petition tribunal ruled in a unanimous decision earlier this month that both the Labour Party’s Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party failed to prove that the election was flawed.
The tribunal declared that the politicians could not establish the allegations of over-voting and voter suppression. The judges also said there was not enough evidence the support the cases.
Mr. Abubakar is petitioning the Supreme Court to invalidate the verdict, asserting that it resulted in a “serious error and a miscarriage of justice” by confirming Mr. Tinubu‘s win.
He also criticized the court for using “derogatory language” that, in his view, displayed bias.
Likewise, Mr. Obi contended that the election tribunal neglected the facts of his case and failed to give proper consideration to the evidence he presented, leading to an incorrect conclusion.
As of now, a hearing date for these cases has not been scheduled.