2023 elections: Tinubu files suit to stop LP, PDP from stopping result collation

The All Progressives Congress (APC) and its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, on Tuesday filed a suit to prevent the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from halting the collation of the presidential election results.

The suit marked FHC/KN/CS/43/2023 was filed before the federal high court in Kano.

At a media briefing earlier on Tuesday, the LP and PDP asked Mahmood Yakubu, chairperson of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to resign.

The parties also demanded that the presidential election be conducted afresh, saying it was not free and “far from being fair or transparent”.

In the suit, the APC, Tinubu, and his running mate are asking the court to restrain the defendants.

In the affidavits supporting the motion on notice, the plaintiffs submitted that “neither the defendants nor any other person has the power to stop the process of announcing the result of the election as collated from various polling units”.

They also stated that “from the result at our situation rooms as collated in the states of the federation”, Tinubu and Shettima “have met the requirements of the law to be declared the winner of the election and accordingly returned as the president and vice president-elect”.

The deponent averred that INEC has been put under enormous pressure by the defendants and others, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Owing to pressure being mounted on the INEC, the plaintiffs stated that there is an urgent need for the court to intervene and put a stop to those pressurising the electoral commission.

Consequently, the plaintiffs are praying for an order of injunction “restraining the political parties, their privies, agents, associates, assigns, sympathisers, supporters, or any other person howsoever described under whatever guise howsoever spelt, under any guise whatsoever from taking any step or steps, whether judicial or extrajudicial, that is capable of preventing the INEC from completing the process of the conduct of the Presidential election held on February 25”.