Anxiety in 25 states as govs, 324 others move against election results – See details

Candidates who lost in the February 25 and March 18 elections for Governorship, National Assembly, and State House of Assembly from various political parties have submitted about 327 petitions against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the declared winners to the respective Election Tribunals in their states.

The petitions include at least three governors, Ben Ayade (Cross River State), Abubakar Bagudu (Kebbi), and Simon Lalong (Plateau), who contested the senatorial election. As of Wednesday, the Election Tribunals had received the petitions, with more expected before the petition submission deadline.

Abia State tops the list with 35 petitions, followed by Anambra (31), Lagos (30), Delta (25), Kano (23), Benue (17), and Plateau (16), while Yobe had the least with only three. As of the report’s time, there were no petitions filed in Oyo and Ogun.

According to the Electoral Act 2022, election losers have 21 days from the results’ declaration date to challenge the outcome.

However, the situation in affected states is causing anxiety as the conduct of the 2023 general elections by INEC has been criticized for tardiness. If proven at the different Election Petition Tribunals across the country, many election results may be overturned.

The presidential election result is already being challenged at the Appeal Court, which is the tribunal for the poll, by the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Mr Peter Obi, respectively. INEC declared Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner.

The trial of petitions for the National Assembly and State Assembly elections begins at the tribunal and ends at the Appeal Court, while the governorship petitions begin at the tribunal but may go up to the Supreme Court.