Delivering judgment in the petition by Peter Obi, candidate of the Labour Party (LP) and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), against the election of Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the February 25, 2023 elections, the tribunal also affirmed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has the discretion to determine the mode of transmitting the results of the presidential election.
The five-member panel, led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, referred to Sections 52 and 65 of the Electoral Act 2022, which granted INEC the freedom to prescribe the method of transmitting election results during the poll.
The tribunal dismissed the petition filed by the Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, which sought to annul the victory of President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) based on the alleged “failure” of INEC’s Results Viewing Portal to electronically upload election results in real-time.
On the controversy over scoring 25 per cent votes in Abuja, the tribunal said Section 134 (1) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) stipulates that a presidential candidate must attain or score a majority of votes cast in a presidential election, where two or more candidates are involved, and at least 25 per cent in two-thirds of the 36 States and FCT to meet the constitutional requirement to be declared as duly elected as President of Nigeria.
