According to court documents, Nigeria’s ruling party petitioned the Appeals Court on Tuesday to dismiss a complaint brought by Peter Obi, the third-place finisher in February’s disputed election, contesting the win of President-elect Bola Tinubu.
Both the third-place finisher from the Labour Party, Peter Obi, and the second-place finisher from the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, challenged the election results in court last month.
Tinubu, his All Progressives Congress Party (APC), and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were accused of electoral fraud by the two candidates, who demanded a recount.
The APC filed a countersuit on Tuesday, stating that Obi’s petition should be dismissed because, among other reasons, he was not a member of the Labour Party when he campaigned for office and did not mention Atiku as a respondent in the case.
In May of 2018, Obi, Atiku’s campaign mate in 2019, defected from the PDP to the Labour Party. According to the APC, Obi was not a member of the Labour Party when it was legally required to submit a list of its members to the Election Commission.
The ruling party has yet to respond to Atiku’s request.
Tinubu was declared the victor by INEC with 37% of the vote versus Atiku’s 29% and Obi’s 25%. A court has never overturned the results of a presidential election in Nigeria’s history.
Tinubu will be formally sworn in at the end of May.
Last month, challenges to the presidential election results were filed in court, and the Appeals Court has until this month to choose judges to create a panel to evaluate the petitions and provide a verdict within 180 days.
