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Nigeria's Top Court Upholds Bola Tinubu's Victory in Presidential Elections

© AP Photo / Sunday AlambaAtiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic party, centre, Nigeria's opposition party, attends the presidential and parliamentary elections in Yola, Nigeria, Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023.
Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic party, centre, Nigeria's opposition party, attends the presidential and parliamentary elections in Yola, Nigeria, Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023.  - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 26.10.2023
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As a result of the Nigerian presidential elections held in February, ex-governor of the country's Lagos State Bola Tinubu became the head of state. Meanwhile, former Nigerian vice-president Atiku Abubakar, who came in second, along with a third-placed candidate Peter Obi moved to challenge Tinubu's victory.
Nigeria's Supreme Court dismissed the appeals, which challenged the victory of the country's incumbent leader Tinubu in the February presidential election, issued by the state's ex-vice president Abubakar, a second-placed candidate, and Peter Obi, who came in third in the elecetions, media said.
In February, Tinubu was declared the winner of the presidential election with 37% of the vote. Atiku Abubakar came second with 29%, while Obi came third with 25%.
The failure of Nigeria's electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to publish the results of the February elections online in time prompted the opposition candidates to demand a review of Tinubu's victory. The comission said that it delayed the announcement of the results online due to unforseen technical problems.
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In February, responding to the claims that the vote was rigged, Tinubu highlighted the importance of collaboration and urged the opposition to accept the results of the elections.
"I take this opportunity to appeal to my fellow contestants to let us team up together," he said, adding: "It is the only nation we have. It is one country and we must build together."
Legal challenges of elections are common in Nigeria; however, country's Supreme Court has never invalidated results of a presidential election.
For instance, Tinubu's predecessor as president Muhammadu Buhari challenged the results of the 2011 presidential elections in Nigeria, when he came second, saying the polls were rigged by electoral commission computers.
In addition, in 2019, after Buhari, who ruled the country from 2015 to 2023, got the second term as a result of the elections, his then-primary opponent Abubakar also filed an appeal regarding Buhari's victory.
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