A Nigerian election tribunal has rejected a petition filed by Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, challenging the results of the February 25, 2023 election.
The tribunal ruled that Obi and his party had failed to provide sufficient evidence to support their allegations of electoral fraud. The judges said that Obi had not stated the number of lawful votes he had scored, nor had he specified the polling units where he alleged that irregularities had occurred.
The tribunal also ruled that Obi had not provided any evidence to support his claim that his votes had been reduced and added to those of the winner of the election, Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress.
The ruling is a setback for Obi, who had hoped to overturn the results of the election and become Nigeria’s next president. However, the tribunal’s decision is not final and can be appealed.
The ruling will be met with mixed reactions in Nigeria.
The election was Nigeria’s sixth since the end of military rule in 1999. It was also the most closely contested election in the country’s history.
