The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the February 25 elections, Peter Obi has asked the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) to among others, cancel the election and conduct a fresh one.
Obi’s request forms part of the reliefs being sought in a petition he filed with his party at the court’s secretariat located at the Court of Appeal in Abuja.
It was learnt that Obi and LP filed their petition early on Tuesday, with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Bola Tinubu, Shettima Kashim (vice president-elect) and their party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) listed as respondents.
It is the petitioners’ contention that Tinubu “at the time of the election was not qualified to contest the election.”
They are arguing that the president-elect “was not duly elected by majority of the lawful votes cast at the time of the election.”
The petitioners, represented by a team of lawyers led by Livy Ozoukwu (SAN) want the court to hold that “at the time of the presidential election held on 25 February, 2023,” Messrs Tinubu and Shettima “were not qualified to contest the election.“
They also want the court “to determine that all the votes recorded for” Mr Tinubu “in the election are wasted votes, owing to the non-qualification” of the president-elect and Mr Shettima.
The petitioners equally want the court to hold that the 2nd respondent (Tinubu) having failed to score one-quarter of the votes cast at the Presidential Election in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, was not entitled to be declared and returned as the winner of the presidential election held on 25 February, 2023.”
They want the court to issue an “an order cancelling the election and compelling the 1st respondent (INEC) to conduct a fresh election at which the 2nd Respondent (Tinubu), 3rd respondent (Shettima) and 4th respondent (APC) shall not participate.”
