Bola Tinubu, the president-elect of Nigeria, has been formally served with notice of the suit contesting his election on February 25.
The Tinubu camp has verified receiving copies of the petitions that Peter Obi, a presidential candidate for the Labour Party, and Atiku Abubakar, a candidate for the People’s Democratic Party, submitted to the election tribunal.
Those who remember the Nigerian presidential election of 2023 will recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) pronounced Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the victor.
But, Atiku and Obi filed separate lawsuits to contest the results after being dissatisfied with the decision.
Both men reported that despite numerous attempts, they were unable to serve Tinubu with the petition approximately a week after it was formally filed at the tribunal.
Later, the legal teams for Obi and Atiku were granted permission to use the APC as a substitute method of serving Tinubu with the petitions.
But, the appeal against his principal has been received, according to Babatunde Ogala, the legal director of the Tinubu Presidential Campaign Council.
Indeed, he replied, “we got copies of Atiku and Obi’s petition yesterday.
Ogala noted that they were not in a rush to file a response because the law provided them with 21 days to do so.
“Go examine the legislation. It states that we have up to 21 days to reply. You journalists shouldn’t subject us to needless pressure. When I have a full 21 days to respond, how is it possible that they served me on Tuesday and you are asking when I will file my response?
“I’ll advise you to hold off until the day we submit it. You’ll undoubtedly learn about it, he promised.
Festus Keyamo, the APC PCC’s spokesman, and Ahmad El-Marzuq, the party’s legal counsel, both confirmed to Punch that they have received the petition and are examining it.