INEC votes N3bn to fight electoral cases

The Independent National Electoral Commission has set aside more than N3 billion to support the outcomes of the elections for the governorship and state assembly held on March 18 and the presidential and national assembly elections held on February 25.

According to pro-politics, several unsuccessful candidates have petitioned the presidential and state election petition tribunals to contest the results of the elections.

Around 100 petitions for elections have already been submitted nationwide by disgruntled candidates and their parties.

Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, Peter Obi of the Labour Party, Solomon Okangbuan of the Action Alliance, and Chichi Ojei of the Allied People’s Movement have all filed petitions calling for the annulment of the presidential election results.

The All Progressives Congress candidate for president, Bola Tinubu, was declared the winner of the presidential election on February 25 by INEC on March 1. However, the other five candidates filed petitions to void the election.

Moreover, candidates for the National Assembly who are dissatisfied with the outcomes of the recently finished elections have filed petitions with electoral petition courts in more than 12 states.

States like Edo, Plateau, Ondo, Kwara, Ogun, Bayelsa, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Bauchi, Lagos, and Niger were among those where the petitions had been received

In Ogun and Nasarawa states, some disgruntled candidates demonstrated and vowed to sue to overturn the election results.

Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of INEC, bemoaned the fact that the commission was managing more than 600 cases in various courts throughout the federation in November.

He disclosed that the complaints filed against the electoral authority are related to the way political parties conducted their primaries while speaking at training to strengthen the capacity of more than 300 judges who would handle election disputes.

However, INEC set aside N3b for the prosecution of election-related matters in its Election Project Plan for the general election of 2023.

“Litigation and prosecution: N2,104,965,000 (2022) and #3,087,195,425,” according to the document that was obtained on Sunday (2023). N5,192,160,425 in total.