By Our Correspondent, ABUJA
Nigeria
An appeals court in Nigeria rejected two out of the three petitions Wednesday challenging the legitimacy of President Bola Tinubu's victory in the February election, with the last petition still under deliberation in a case that has put Africa’s most populous country on edge.
Three opposing parties
challenged the election results which they said was illegally announced and
argued that Tinubu was not qualified to run for president because he was a
citizen of Guinea and allegedly did not have the required academic credentials.
The opposition has hinted at possible protests if the court rules in his favor.
In the Court of Appeal in the
Nigerian capital, Abuja, a five-member justice panel ruled that the third-place
finisher Peter Obi and his Labour Party were not able to prove his claims that
the Nigerian election commission did not follow due process in announcing the
results of the vote nor that the voting was marred by irregularities and that
he — not Tinubu — won the election with a majority of votes.
The court also rejected witness statements called by Obi, saying they were “incompetent” and ruled that he failed to prove his claim that Tinubu was once indicted on drug charges in the United States, thereby disqualifying him from running for president.
It also rejected a petition by
the Allied Peoples Movement which sought to nullify Tinubu's victory on the
ground that his running mate — Vice President Kashim Shettima— was not legally
nominated to contest. It said Shettima met the minimum constitutional
provisions allowing him to run.
"Where the constitution
has qualified a candidate to contest an election, no other law except the
constitution can disqualify him,” Tsammani said.
Tinubu, who is currently
attending the G20 summit in India, has denied all the allegations.
Amid tight security in Abuja,
various support groups chanted songs near the court premises to show solidarity
with their political parties and to urge the judiciary to “do the right thing.”
A Protester, James Mike, said
they stood by the court to let the judiciary know “the last hope of the common
man depends on” them.
The tribunal is empowered to
either uphold Tinubu’s election win, declare someone else the winner, annul the
vote, or to order a new election. Whatever decision they make can be appealed
at Nigeria’s Supreme Court within 60 days.
If the judges uphold the last
petition and annul the presidential election, it would be a first in Nigeria's
history.
A presidential election can be
annulled only on the basis of evidence that the Independent National Electoral
Commission did not follow the law and acted in ways that might have affected an
election's outcome.
Since Nigeria returned to
democracy in 1999, all presidential elections but one have been contested in
court. None were overturned.
Police in Abuja issued a
statement Tuesday warning citizens “to be cautious in their actions and
statements,” saying security forces would not “condone activities capable of
inciting violence or causing a descent into anarchy.”
The 71-year-old Tinubu won the
election with less than 50% of the vote, also a first in Nigeria’s history.
The opposing candidates filed
separate petitions arguing that Tinubu was not qualified to become president
and claiming the electoral commission did not follow due process in announcing
the winner. The delays in uploading and announcing election results could have
given room for ballot tampering, critics say.
The opposition has also
alleged that Tinubu was indicted for drug trafficking in the United States,
that he is a citizen of Guinea which disqualifies him to run in presidential
elections in Nigeria, and that his academic qualifications were forged.
Since taking office, he
introduced measures that he said would reform the country's ailing economy but
which have further squeezed millions of poor and hungry Nigerians during his
first 100 days in office. Most of the Nigerian leader’s reforms, though well-intentioned,
have been poorly implemented, critics have said.
On Tuesday, Nigeria Labor
Congress workers launched a two-day “warning strike” to protest the growing
cost of living due to the removal of gas subsidies, threatening to “shut down”
Africa’s largest economy if their demands for improved welfare are not met. It
was their second strike in over a month.
The Nigerian government urged
citizens to be patient with Tinubu. Mohammed Idris, Nigeria’s minister of
information, said though steps taken by the government “to save the country
from hitting the rocks brought momentary discomfort to Nigerians,” the president
has “never failed in his appeal to Nigerians to see the current inconveniences
as a price we must all pay to save our country from disappearing.” -
Africa
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