INEC appoints team of nine Senior Advocates of Nigeria to defend results of 2023 elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of Nigeria has appointed a team of nine Senior Advocates of Nigeria to defend the results of the February 25 presidential election. The team, led by former Nigerian Bar Association President Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), includes Stephen Adehi (SAN), Oluwakemi Pinheiro (SAN), Miannaya Essien (SAN), Abdullahi Aliyu (SAN), and four Senior Advocates of Nigeria who are staff members of INEC’s legal department. Additionally, Garba Hassan, Musa Attah, and Patricia Obi have also been appointed to the legal team.

According to a member of the legal team, INEC had budgeted over N3bn to defend the results of the February 25 presidential and national assembly elections and the March 18 governorship and state assembly polls. The legal team’s appointment comes as several candidates who lost in the elections have filed petitions at the presidential and state election petition tribunals to challenge the outcome of the polls.

Over 100 election petitions have been filed by aggrieved candidates and their parties across the country. Among the presidential candidates who have filed petitions for the nullification of the presidential election results are 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 Peoples Movement.

It is important to note that the commission had on March 1, 2023, declared Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, as the winner of the February 25 presidential election. The appointment of the team of nine Senior Advocates of Nigeria by INEC indicates the commission’s readiness to defend the results of the elections against any legal challenges. The team is expected to put forward a robust defense of the commission’s handling of the elections and the validity of the results declared.