Wole Olanipekun (SAN), a constitutional lawyer and legal icon, and 49 other lawyers are reportedly preparing to defend President-elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s victory at the Presidential Election Tribunal.
Olanipekun, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), will lead a former governor, a former Attorney-General of the Federation, and many others in defending Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the recently concluded presidential election, against petitions served by Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP).
At the February 25th polls, Tinubu received 8,794,726 votes, beating Atiku and Obi, who received 6,984,520 and 6,101,533 votes, respectively.
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According to news reports, Tinubu’s legal team will meet for the first time today in Lagos.
They will discuss some of the topics in the public domain that may be included in the PDP and LP petitions.
Some PDP governors have indicated that they will testify before the tribunal that the election was free and fair in their states.
According to The Nation, some of the 50 SANs chose for free service in order to carry out Tinubu’s mission.
Former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Akin Olujimi, Yusuf Ali, Lateef Fagbemi, A.U. Mustapha, Ahmed Raji, Abiodun Owonikoko, Kemi Pinheiro, Niyi Akintola, and H.M. Liman are among the top lawyers defending Tinubu’s victory.
Taiwo Osipitan, Babatunde Ogala, Roland Otaru, James Onoja, Muiz Banire, Olusola Oke, and former Bauchi State Governor Mohammed Abubakar are among the others.
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A source told The Nation: “Buoyed by patriotism and the need to protect the sanctity of the ballot, about 50 SANs have signed up to defend the mandate of Asiwaju Tinubu. The figure may be more in the next few days.
“Some of these legal giants have either not met with Tinubu or seeking any favour from him. They believe that the February 25 poll was credible and the best in the history of Nigeria.”
The source added: “In spite of the noise in the media, both Atiku and Obi have not served Tinubu and APC a copy of any petition before the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal.
“But the defence team of Tinubu will meet on Tuesday (today) in Lagos ahead of allowing Atiku and Obi to get their acts together.”
Section 130 (1, 2and 3) of the Electoral Act 2022 says: “ “No election and return at any election under this Act shall be questioned in any manner other than by a petition complaining of an undue election or undue return presented to the competent tribunal or court in accordance with the provisions of the constitution or of this Act and in which the person elected or returned is joined as a party.
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“In this part, ‘tribunal’ means-(a) in the case of the presidential election, the Court of Appeal; and (b) in the case of any other elections under this Act, the election tribunal established under the Constitution or by this Act.
“The election tribunals shall-(a) be constituted not later than 30 days before the election; and (b) when constituted, open their registries for business seven days before the election.”
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