Aide to Buhari Mocks Peter Obi Over His Petition Before Election Tribunal

Bashir Ahmad, Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Digital Communications, has mocked the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi over the request he presented today before the 2023 presidential election tribunal.

Obi asked the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) to cancel the February 25 presidential election and order the conduct of a new one without the participation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) flagbearer, Bola Tinubu.

Obi and LP filed their petition with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Bola Tinubu (President-elect), Kashim Shettima (vice president-elect) and their party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) listed as respondents.

He asked among other prayers to the court that the tribunal located at the Court of Appeal in Abuja “to determine that all the votes recorded for” Mr Tinubu “in the election are wasted votes, owing to the non-qualification” of the president-elect and and his vice, Mr Shettima.

He also argued that Tinubu “at the time of the election was not qualified to contest the election.”

The petitioners, represented by a team of lawyers led by Livy Ozoukwu (SAN) want the court to hold that “at the time of the presidential election held on 25 February 2023,” Messrs Tinubu and Shettima “were not qualified to contest the election.“

The petitioners equally want the court to hold that the 2nd respondent (Tinubu) having failed to score one-quarter of the votes cast at the Presidential Election in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, was not entitled to be declared and returned as the winner of the presidential election held on 25 February 2023.

Also, the petitioner is seeking “An order cancelling the election and compelling the 1st respondent (INEC) to conduct a fresh election at which the 2nd Respondent (Tinubu), 3rd respondent (Shettima) and 4th respondent (APC) shall not participate.”

Reacting to the demands by Obi before the Tribunal, Ahmad described them as hilarious.

Taking to his Twitter account, he wrote: “ICYMI: The former Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi has begged the presidential elections tribunal in Abuja to ask INEC to conduct a fresh presidential election without APC and President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Hilarious!