An appeals court in Nigeria continued Wednesday to read its judgment on the challenge by the opposition to the results of the presidential election in February which brought to power Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in office since May.
The five judges of the Abuja Court of Appeal have been deliberating for months on a series of lawsuits brought by the main opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and the Labor Party (LP), which allege fraud and irregularities.
They demand that the results of the February 25 election be annulled and that their candidates be declared the winners, or that the court order a new ballot. Whatever the decision of the judges, the petitioners still have the possibility of appealing to the Supreme Court, according to the lawyers.
Security has been tightened around this jurisdiction in the Nigerian capital, with police and defense forces cordoning off access to the building with roadblocks.
No court has overturned a presidential election since Nigeria returned to democracy from military rule in 1999.
In a first judgment, the five judges invalidated the request of a small opposition party (Allied Peoples Movement) which asked for the cancellation of the ballot.
In the middle of the afternoon, the tedious reading of the judgment on the requests of the two main opposition formations continued, in a courtroom full to bursting.
Nearly 25 million Nigerians voted in late February in a poll that was generally calm but marred by delays in counting votes and major shortcomings in the electronic transfer of results, leading voters and the opposition to denounce “massive fraud”.
At the end of the ballot in Africa’s most populous country, the candidate of the Congress of Progressives (APC) and ex-governor of Lagos, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, 71, was declared the winner with 37% of the vote.
He edged out former Vice President Atiku Abubakar (29%) of the PDP, and Labor candidate Peter Obi (25%). The emergence of this outsider, favorite of the youth, against the two main political parties was a first in the democratic history of Nigeria.
In the past, elections in Nigeria have often been marred by allegations of fraud and legal challenges.
Some voters and opposition parties claim that system failures when downloading results allowed manipulation of ballots and disparities in the results of manual counts at polling stations.
International observers, including those from the European Union, also noted major logistical problems, disenfranchised voters and a lack of transparency. The electoral commission has castigated accusations “unfounded and irresponsible” of the opposition.
President Tinubu’s government has shown its confidence in recent days.
“Because he has faith in the judiciary, he believes that the mandate Nigerians freely gave him in the election will stand,” Ajuri Ngelale, spokesperson for the presidency, told Channels TV this week.
“He’s not worried just because he knows he won the election,” he added.
After taking office, Bola Tinubu immediately launched a series of reforms aimed at revitalizing the economy and investment, but these initiatives led to a sudden rise in the cost of living, angering the population.
On May 29, at the time of his inauguration, the president eliminated fuel subsidies, which had the effect of quadrupling the price of gasoline and leading to a sharp increase in food prices.
Since 2016, Nigeria has suffered a severe economic crisis which has worsened with the pandemic caused by the coronavirus, then the Russian offensive in Ukraine. The currency is weak, the foreign debt enormous and unemployment is rampant.
The country is also trying to fight against armed groups carrying out kidnappings in the North West and the center, to put an end to an Islamist insurgency that has been raging for 14 years in the North East and to curb separatist unrest in the South. -East.
Bola Tinubu is due to go to the G20 summit in New Delhi next weekend, a step which is part of the possibility of a candidacy from Nigeria to become a member of this organization, the presidency announced on Sunday.
09/06/2023 17:40:09 – Abuja (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
