Politics

2023 Polls: Candidates From 10 Parties File 436 Petitions

Published

3 years ago

April 11, 2023

Dissatisfied with the conduct of the 2023 general elections, no fewer than 10 of the 18 political parties have filed 431 petitions at the various election tribunals in 27 states of the country to quash the victories of those the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, declared winners.

There are five petitions against the declaration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as president-elect. This brings the tentative figure of petitions, according to Vanguard’s checks to 436. The figure will be more if those from the remaining nine states are tallied.

Those seeking the nullification of Tinubu’s victory are Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour, LP; and candidates of the Action Alliance, AA; Allied Peoples Movement, APM; and Action Peoples Party, APP.

There are also petitions across the states against the outcomes of some governorship, Senate, House of Representatives and state assembly elections.

Apart from the five parties kicking against the result of the presidential election, other parties at the tribunals include the APC; Social Democratic Party, SDP; New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP; All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA; and Young Progressives Party, YPP.

The number of petitions may rise further after the April 15 supplementary polls for two governorship, five senatorial, 31 House of Representatives, and 57 state assembly slots.

431 petitions in 27 states

Across the states, the tally of petitions are Abia (35), Anambra (31), Ebonyi (2), Enugu (14), Akwa Ibom (15), Bayelsa (9), Cross River (13), Delta (25), Edo (14), Rivers (34), Lagos (30), Ekiti (4), Ogun (18), Ondo (9), Osun (14) and Oyo (20).

Others are Benue (17), Niger (11), Kogi (2), Plateau (16), Adamawa (8), Bauchi (15), Gombe (3), Taraba (7), Yobe (3), Kaduna (18), Katsina (11), Kano (23) and Kebbi (8) among others.

2023 more credible than past polls — INEC source

Speaking on the controversies trailing the 2023 general polls, yesterday, a source in the INEC said the 2023 exercises were the best since 1999.

There was no data on the number of petitions filed in 1999 when three parties – Alliance for Democracy, AD; All Peoples Party, APP; and PDP contested the elections. The AD and APP fielded a joint Presidential Candidate, Chief Olu Falae against PDP’s Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Falae did not challenge Obasanjo’s victory at the tribunal.

However, for the following electoral cycles, there were 564 petitions in 2003; 1,291 in 2007; 732 in 2011; 611 in 2015 and 807 in 2019.

The source said: “The INEC crashed post-election litigation to half of what we had in 2019 with the innovations it introduced such as the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System, BVAS, and e-transmission of election results. It is very sad that the commission experienced glitches in the transmission of the presidential election results in real-time from the polling units “The 2023 general elections are like no other. We have never witnessed the kind of upsets we had this year. We had governors and political heavyweights losing elections they should not lose. BVAS ensured that the voter’s list was not padded and votes cast inflated.

“The number of post-election litigation shows how credible the elections were compared to what we had in the past. There are about 400 post-election petitions in 2023. In 2019 we had 807 post-election litigations. The parties complaining fared worse than INEC in organizing primaries. There was 1,370 pre-election litigation in 2023 compared to 370 in 2019.”

Past election petitions

1999-No data; 2003 – 574; 2007-1291; 2011-732; 2015-611; and 2019-807

We’re sure of victory—Atiku’s aide

When contacted, Phrank Shaibu, Special Assistant, Public Communications to the PDP Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar said the party is optimistic about securing victory at the tribunal.
Shaibu said: “We are very optimistic.”

We have water-tight petitions —Osuntokun

Also, the Director-General of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, Chief Akin Osuntokun, said his party has water-tight petitions to get victories at the various tribunals.

He said: “I don’t see how many petitions, numbering in hundreds, can be evidence for credibility; I see it as a twisted logic. In fact, the reverse should be the case. Are you saying 400 people are accusing somebody of theft? If you have 400 complaints of an election conducted, how can that be evidence of credibility? It is exactly the opposite.

“In any case, we have a watertight petition, the evidence is too conspicuous. That is the kind of confidence that we have.

“We have evidence against their servers of the results they announced; I don’t know what anybody can say about that.”
VANGUARD

Politics

PDP Crisis: INEC Rejects Turaki-led NWC

Published

3 days ago

December 23, 2025

Editor

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has said it will not recognise the Kabiru Turaki-led National Working Committee, NWC, of the Peoples Democratic Party, citing existing court judgments and unresolved legal processes.

This was as contained in a letter dated December 22, 2025, signed by INEC Secretary, Dr Rose Oriaran-Anthony.

The Commission stated that it could not act on demands to acknowledge or upload on its website the list of national officers said to have been elected at the National Convention held on November 15 and 16, 2025, in Ibadan.

According to INEC, its position was guided by subsisting court decisions and pending litigation relating to the leadership crisis within the PDP.

The electoral body further noted that it would be improper to recognise any factional officers while the matter remains before the courts.

Politics

Govt That Fails To Protect Its Citizens Has No Business Remaining In Office – Kwankwaso

Published

3 days ago

December 23, 2025

Editor

Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, leader of the Kwankwasiyya Movement and 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), has accused the Federal Government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of lacking the political will to tackle Nigeria’s worsening insecurity.

Kwankwaso spoke on Tuesday in Kano while unveiling 2,000 operatives of the Kano State Neighbourhood Security Network.

He urged President Tinubu to “rise to the occasion and truly act as the Commander-in-Chief” in addressing banditry and other security challenges.

According to him, Nigeria’s military “remains one of the most gallant in the world,” having served in international peacekeeping missions in Darfur, Liberia, and other conflict zones.

However, he said the armed forces are not being adequately supported to perform optimally.

“Today, many innocent Nigerians are being killed, while the perpetrators walk freely as if nothing happened. The government must apologise to Nigerians for its laxity in the fight against insecurity,” he said.

Kwankwaso, who once served as Minister of Defence, added: “When I was Defence Minister, I knew the capability of the Nigerian military. They are courageous and professional but need clear direction, support, and political will to do the needful.”

He stressed that Nigeria’s armed forces had historically ranked among the best globally and urged the government to equip them properly to change the current security situation.

Kwankwaso also said that if elected president in 2027, he would recruit over one million additional military personnel to strengthen national security.

“Any government that fails to protect the lives and property of its citizens has failed woefully and has no business remaining in office,” he declared.

He further called on the Federal Government to integrate community-based security initiatives, like the Kano Neighbourhood Security Network, into the national security system to boost morale and improve intelligence-driven operations against criminals.

Politics

ADC Announces Temporary Closure Of Secretariat

Published

3 days ago

December 23, 2025

Editor

The African Democratic Congress, ADC , says it has temporarily closed its National Secretariat as part of the end-of-year break.

A statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said full operations are scheduled to resume in the New Year.

According to the statement, the secretariat will close on December 23, 2025, and reopen on January 5, 2026.

The party, however, said essential skeletal services will remain available throughout the period, while all other official activities at the National Secretariat will be suspended to allow staff and party officials observe the Christmas and New Year holidays.

“This is to inform the public that the African Democratic Congress National Secretariat will close for the year on 23rd December 2025 and will resume full operations on 5th January 2026.

“During this period, only skeletal services will be available, while all other official activities at the Secretariat will be temporarily suspended,” the statement said.

The party thanked its members, partners and supporters for their continued loyalty and cooperation throughout the year, noting that their support remains critical to the growth and stability of the party.

The ADC also said it is committed to its ideals and to democratic engagement as it prepares for activities in the coming year.