2019 Elections: Aggrieved politicians file 736 petitions at tribunal

Aggrieved politicians have so far filed a total of 736 petitions before the various election tribunals established over outcomes of the last general elections.

A breakdown of the number, made public on Thursday by the election petitions coordinating office at the Court of Appeal, revealed that four petitions have so far been filed in respect of the presidential election.

The office, headed by Mrs. Rabi Abdulazeez, also revealed that 43 petitions have so far been filed in relation to the governorship elections.



Court of Appeal’s spokesperson, Sa’adatu Musa Kachalla, revealed that 207 petition have been filed in relation to the Senate elections.

A total of 101 petitions are pending in relation to the House of Representatives polls while 381 have been filed in respect of the state Houses of Assembly election.

As regards the presidential election, the first was filed by Hope Democratic Party (HDP) and Ambrose Owuru, who claimed to be the party’s presidential candidate.

The petition marked: CA/PEPC/001/2019 was filed on March 7 this year.

The second was filed on March 8 by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar. It is marked: CA/PEPC/002/2019.

The third marked: CA/PEPC/003/2019 was filed by the Coalition for Change (C4C) and Geff Ojinika, who claimed to be the party’s presidential candidate.

The core contention of the authors of the third petition is that the election, held on February 23 this year, “was vitiated by substantial non-compliance with mandatory statutory provisions, which irregularity substantially affected the election, such that the 1st respondent (Buhari) was not entitled to be returned as the winner of the presidential election.”

The fourth petition, marked: CA/PEPC/004/2019, was filed on March 19 this year by the People’s Democratic Movement (PDM) and Pastor Aminchi Habu, listed as the party’s presidential candidate.