Nothing in Nigeria’s post-election process can stop Tinubu’s May 29 coronation. On May 29, 2023, the eight-year reign of President Muhammadu Buhari will end, and the administration of Bola Tinubu will begin.
The former Lagos governor’s inauguration has been a hot-button topic ever since the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared him the winner of the 2023 presidential election on March 1.
According to the official results, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) squeezed out of a tight contest to beat the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi.
The messy, and still uncompleted, electronic transmission of the results from polling units cast a shadow over the election and has become a burden on Tinubu’s legitimacy to assume office.
This has further been compounded by the petitions filed against his victory at the presidential election petition tribunal.
The claims against Tinubu
Five political parties, with or without their candidates, have called on the tribunal to overturn the result of the election or cancel it for a fresh one.
In Obi’s petition, he said Tinubu was not qualified to contest, to begin with, due to his narcotics case in the United States. The former governor forfeited $460,000 to the United States government in 1993 after funds found in bank accounts linked to him were identified as proceeds of drug trafficking.
Obi, the third-place finisher, also claimed that the INEC-announced winner’s failure to secure 25% of the votes in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) nullifies his opponent’s victory, as arguably implied in the constitution.
In a recent update on his original petition, Atiku said Tinubu’s alleged secret ownership of a Guinean passport should disqualify him, a revelation that wasn’t made public until after he won the election.
The summation of these issues and other controversies swirling around the president-elect has given gas to calls for him not to be sworn in at all.
The main argument for this spirited stand is that the court cases should be concluded before the inauguration.
But there’s nothing in Nigeria’s post-election process that can stop the May 29 ceremony.
It’s due to how the system is set up.
Why Tinubu can’t be stopped… for now
