The Nigerian Election Tribunal will rule on petitions disputing the outcome of a presidential election that put Bola Tinubu in office on Wednesday, the court registrar said on Monday.
The All Progressives Congress candidate Tinubu's two main rivals contest his win in February. The second third-place finishers in the contest, Atiku Abubakar of the People's Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labor Party challenged Tinubu's win in court on the grounds of election malpractice.
The tribunal, which began hearing in June, will issue its decision on September 6, according to the registrar, who also noted that the verdict will be aired. Confirming the date to our correspondent in a telephone interview, Registrar, Court of Appeal Umar Bangari said that September 6 has been fixed for the judgment. He said, ” Yes September 6 has been fixed for the tribunal judgement. We are working on a statement to that effect.”
Meanwhile, the Nigerian president seems to be unphased about the result of the Presidential Election Tribunal's decision on Wednesday, according to Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity Ajuri Ngelale on Monday. “He’s not worried simply because he knows he won the election,” Ngelale said during a TV interview.
Since Nigeria's restoration to democracy in 1999, every election result has been challenged; nonetheless, all until the 2015 election, in which Goodluck Jonathan conceded loss to Muhammadu Buhari, have been upheld by the courts.
Most analysts anticipate that the panel would sustain Tinubu's victory. Also, public opinion seems to be geared towards the same sentiments mentioned above as the idea of impeachment and reverting election results are significantly alien to the Nigerian people.
Despite the electoral challenge, Tinubu, 71, was inaugurated in as president of Nigeria and is now under pressure to immediately improve the country's economic and security situation. When the decision is made, he will be in India for the G20 conference.
A stalwart of the ruling party, Tinubu received 37% of the vote in February, the lowest figure since 1999. As a result of a new technology that the electoral commission had claimed would make the process more transparent and undermine trust, the main opposition parties have characterized the election's results as fraudulent.