Nigerian top court affirms Tinubu as president in February election
Eight-month legal battle challenge to work harder, unite county, says president
The Nigerian Supreme Court on Thursday affirmed Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the winner of the Feb. 25 presidential election.
Justice John Inyang Okoro said the apex court cannot accept new evidence of Tinubu’s alleged certificate forgery to nullify the results.
“It is my view that there is no merit in this appeal brought by the appellants, and therefore dismiss the appeal accordingly,” he said.
Opposition candidates Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party’s Peter Obi appealed a Sept. 6 ruling by the election court which upheld Tinubu as the winner.
The opposition candidates asked the Supreme Court to set aside the ruling of the lower court, take new evidence to nullify the election and establish election manipulation occurred during the poll.
But justices unanimously declared Tinubu as president.
Tinubu said the end of the eight-month legal battle is a challenge for him to work harder. He urged Nigerians to change their mindsets and support him.
“It is important that we recognize that we have no other country except Nigeria,” he said.
Tinubu received 8.8 million votes, while Atiku had 6.9 million. Obi’s garnered 6.1 million votes in the election.
