ABUJA, Nigeria
A number of protesters stormed the appeal court in Abuja, Nigeria's capital on Monday to express their concern about the outcome of the election result but were restrained from gaining entrance to the court by security operatives.
"We are here calling on the
judiciary to give Nigerians justice," says protest leader Orngu Angwu. As
the country grapples with widespread insecurity, economic woes and growing
poverty, many Nigerians had hoped the presidential ballot would bring about
change but many were disappointed by the way the election was conducted.
On Monday, a panel of five
Nigerian judges sat for a pre-hearing session in the trial involving opposition
leaders contesting the February election won by the ruling party.
Since Nigeria returned to
democracy in 1999 after three decades of military rule, elections have always
ended up in court, though no challenge has ever overturned results.
Petitions contesting the victory of Bola Tinubu were filed in March by several presidential candidates including the main opposition leader Atiku Abubakar who came second and outsider Peter Obi who was third.
The court has 180 days from
when the petitions were filed to issue a judgment, which can then be appealed
at the supreme court.
No major decision was expected
on Monday.
Abubakar, who was on his sixth
bid for the presidency, claimed in his petition that he won the February 25
election.
Both he and Obi claimed that
results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were
invalid due to "non-compliance" with electoral laws and "corrupt
practices".
Abubakar, known in Nigeria as
"Atiku", also claimed in his petition of 223 pages that Tinubu failed
to score the legal threshold of 25 percent of votes in the Federal Capital
Territory.
In his own petition, Obi, who
had gained mass support from Nigeria's youth, also claimed to have won the
election.
In a 100-page petition, he
also claimed that Tinubu was "not qualified to contest" due to his
involvement in an alleged drug-related case in the US.
The president-elect has denied
any wrongdoing during his time living in the US, and both he and his party have
rejected claims from the opposition of electoral fraud, appealing for unity.
The INEC has recognised
"glitches" during the February vote but has dismissed claims that the
process was not free and fair.
The ongoing court battle is
unlikely to disrupt the swearing-in of Tinubu on May 29, who will succeed
Muhammadu Buhari after two terms in office.
As the country grapples with
widespread insecurity, economic woes and growing poverty, many Nigerians had
hoped the presidential ballot would bring about change but many were
disappointed by the way the election was conducted.
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