You have no right to contest my victory, Tinubu replies Peter Obi at tribunal
The President-elect and All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has told the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) that the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, lacks the right to challenge his victory at the February 25 presidential election.
Tinubu stated this in his response to the petition filed by Obi and the Labour Party, faulting the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for declaring the former Lagos State governor as the President-elect.
Obi and his party claimed that Tinubu had not met all the constitutional requirements for a candidate to emerge as president.
But, Tinubu in his response argued that the former Anambra State governor was not a lawful member of the Labour Party as of the time the party nominated him as its candidate, and therefore lacks locus standi to challenge the outcome of the exercise.
His defence team, led by Chief Wole Olanipekun, added that as of 24th May 2022, six days before the primary election of the Labour Party purportedly held to produce/elect Obi as the presidential candidate of the party for the presidential election held on 25th February 2023, Obi was still a card-carrying member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and he did not resign his membership of the said party until 24th May 2022.
They argued, among other things, that Obi was still a presidential aspirant in the PDP 30 days before the Labour Party held its presidential primary.
The legal team also argued that Tinubu was never convicted of a drug-related offence as claimed by Obi in his petition, adding that the reliefs being sought by the petitioners are not only incompetent but also un-grantable.