Today will be historic in Nigeria’s political history as the Presidential Election Petition Court is expected to give its final judgment on Atiku’s, and Obi’s petitions against Tinubu’s election victory.
The Abuja court would make public its judgment for the three election petitions by Atiku, Peter Obi, and a political party that challenged the credibility of President Tinubu’s victory in the February 2023 presidential poll.
When the verdict of the court is made public today, Wednesday, 6th September 2023, the much-anticipated, high-stake judgment is likely to be controversial no matter where the court places its axe in judgment.
Ahead of the judgment, #AllEyesOnTheJudiciary has been trending on social media as the general expectation of ordinary Nigerians is that the court will overturn the election results of INEC.
It is projected that, either the election of Tinibu would be declared null and void, or confirmed by the court. The former projected verdict would mean a rerun of the 2023 elections among others.
It is projected that the court may call for new electoral reforms among others to ensure the will of the people of Nigeria is not compromised by any political party.
The judgment of Nigeria’s Presidential Election Petition Court will also clearly indicate the total quality performance and due diligence of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in following the rules that govern the elections in carrying out its duty and whether it did independent, ethical, and diligent work before, during and after the elections.
Whatever the judgment, the outcome will either validate or portray the INEC as not on top of its job and compromised.
Mr Tinubu’s win as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on 25 February has been eclipsed by the opposition’s allegations of fraud in the process that was eagerly monitored around the world.
There are three pending petitions filed in court in the aftermath of the election challenging the credibility of Mr Tinubu’s victory which the five-member panel of the court will decide on today.
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Two of the petitions were filed by the leading opposition presidential candidates – Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who came second behind Mr Tinubu, and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, who took the third position, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The petitioners alleged that Mr Tinubu was not eligible to contest the 25 February election after a 1993 decision of the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, ordering him to forfeit $460,000 in a case involving drugs trafficking.