Obi heads to Tribunal seeks nullification of Tinubu’s election

By Vivian Okejeme, Abuja

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr Peter Obi, has approached the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, challenging the victory of Senator Bola Tinubu, as the president-elect.

Mr Obi who came third in the election with a total of 6,101,533 votes alleges gross irregularities in the conduct of the February 25 elections.

The Labour party candidate, in the petition sought five prayers which he filed to beat the 21-day deadline that elapses Tuesday.

Principal among the prayers is his call on the court to cancel the 25 February presidential election and an order a fresh poll.

The petition, jointly filed by Mr Obi and the Labour Party as co-petitioners, joined the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mr Tinubu, Shettima Kashim (vice president-elect), and the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the respondents.

Tuesday, being the 21st day after the declaration of the results of the election on 1 March, is the last day he and any other aggrieved candidates and political parties had to file their petition in court.

Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was declared winner of the presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, after he scored over 8million votes

INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, who announced the final results in the early hours of Wednesday in Abuja, said Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) PDP came second in the elections.

Atiku polled a total of 6,984,520 votes in the election, while Rabiu Kwankwaso of the NNPP came fourth with 1,496,687 votes.

Setting out the grounds for the petition, Mr Obi’s lead lawyer, Livy Ozoukwu, said Mr Tinubu “at the time of the (presidential) election was not qualified to contest the election.”

Mr Ozoukwu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), argued that the presidentelect “was not duly elected by majority of the lawful votes cast at the time of the election.

The senior lawyer led Atiku’s legal team when the former vice president unsuccessfully challenged the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.

From Mustapha Adamu, Kano

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano state has rejected the announcement of Abba Kabir Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) as the winner of the March 18 governorship election.

The Returning Officer of the election, Professor Ahmad

Provide measures to curb repeated Train accidents - Reps tell NRC

BY Christiana Ekpa

The House of Representatives, has urged the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC), to provide measures to curb repeated train accidents with other vehicles.

The House which on Tuesday, observed a minute silence in honour of the casualties of the various train mishaps in Nigeria,also directed the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau to investigate the causes of the various train incidences.

The resolution was fallout of a motion under matters of urgent public importance, sponsored by Hon. Unyime Idem, who noted the urgent need to curb the incessant loss of lives in train mishaps.

The lawmakers recalled that in January 2023, a train accident was reported in the Kubwa axis of Abuja, which claimed the life of Selimota Suleiman, a staff of the Nigerian Television Authority, while on Thursday, March 9, 2023, a moving train rammed into a BRT bus in Lagos State, claiming about six lives and many others injured.

He further recalled that on March 28, 2022, an AbujaKaduna train was attacked, and many Nigerians lost their lives while others were either injured or abducted, and also that a Warri - Itakpe train derailed in Kogi forest, leaving not less than 300 passengers stranded barely a month after about 20 passengers were abducted from a train station in Igueben, Edo State.

“In spite of these unfortunate trends, which are, as a result of the carelessness of some individuals, no one has ever been held to account for the unfortunate loss of lives”, he lamented, adding that these unfortunate incidents are occurring very often because not much seems to be done to forestall the occurrence.