Nigeria’s Supreme Court has upheld the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the country’s recent presidential election, putting an end to a legal challenge brought by his two main rivals, Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party.
In the official results of the Feb. 25 election announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, Abubakar and Obi came second and third respectively.
The duo had contested the results, citing irregularities that marred the polls. Multiple investigations have since shown that the elections were in some areas fraudulent. Reports by Premium Times and BBC, for instance, showed that while the Labour Party won in Rivers state, INEC declared Tinubu’s APC as winner.
The challenge filed by the PDP and LP had earlier been dismissed by the Court of Appeal’s election tribunal.
The Supreme Court’s position was eagerly awaited, in part because the PDP team had presented new evidence showing the Tinubu’s university certificated to INEC was not issued by Chicago State University as he claimed.
Court ruling
The Supreme Court panel of seven judges ruled that the court could not admit the new evidence, and dismissed all the grounds raised by the petitioners to challenge Tinubu’s election.
“There is no merit in this appeal, and it is hereby dismissed,” lead justice Inyang Okoro said Thursday, backed by all the other justices.
The ruling is considered final and follows a pattern seen in previous presidential elections that faced legal challenges.
The ruling now gives all clear for President Tinubu, 71, to lead the country beleaguered with a multitude of economic challenges, including double-digit inflation, foreign currency shortages, a weakening naira, widespread insecurity, and the issue of crude oil theft.
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