#PEPTJudgement: How Peter Obi failed to prove election irregularities
At the ongoing Presidential Election Tribunal ruling on Wednesday, September 6, 2023, in Abuja, the court has ruled that Peter Obi, the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the February 25, 2023, election, was unable to substantiate allegations of election irregularities.
According to the Tribunal, the petitioners did not provide concrete evidence pinpointing the polling units where alleged irregularities during the election occurred.
Recall that Neusroom reported on July 28, 2023, that in Peter Obi’s final address to the Presidential Election Tribunal, he presented a series of statistics, including the assertion that 39,546 polling units, with 23,119,298 registered voters and 5,532,553 accredited voters, were inaccessible on the IReV platform. These numbers, intended to bolster the case for election irregularities, formed a pivotal part of his argument.
Also, Peter Obi in his final address has also cited election irregularities in Benue State and Rivers State.
In the official results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), President Bola Tinubu had won Benue State with 310,468 votes, closely followed by Peter Obi, who garnered 308,372 votes. Similarly, in Rivers State, Tinubu was declared the winner with 231,591 votes, leading to debates and speculation regarding the authenticity of the election results, particularly in Obio-Akpor, the Local Government Area of former governor Nyesom Wike, where Tinubu reportedly scored 80,239 votes, while Peter Obi garnered 3,829 votes.
However, in the ruling on Wednesday, the Panel of Justices said that “in the instant petition, there was no effort to prove specific allegations and particulars of complaints,” as claimed by Peter Obi and his legal team.
It’s worth noting that a prior ruling by the Tribunal had dismissed a case brought by The Allied Peoples Movement (APM), which had argued that Vice President Kashim Shettima was not qualified as President Bola Tinubu’s running mate, citing a breach of Section 35 of the Electoral Act 2022 and other constitutional provisions. The Tribunal had deemed this argument to be without merit.
As the proceedings continue, the nation awaits the Tribunal’s final judgment, which will ultimately determine the outcome of these closely watched election disputes.
