A Nigerian court dismissed on Wednesday a petition filed by the Nigerian opposition Labour Party that sought to overturn the results of the February presidential election.
A judge of the five-man Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja declared after hours of reading out the conclusions that Labour candidate Peter Obi’s challenge was "unmeritorious."
The Labour Party rejected the judgment in a statement published on social media, saying it was adopted in violation of law and did not reflect the will of the people.
"Nigerians were witnesses to the electoral robbery that took place on February 25, 2023, which was globally condemned but the Tribunal in its wisdom refused to accept the obvious," it said.
The election was won by Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos state from the centrist All Progressives Congress party, with 37% of the vote. Obi came third with 25%.
Peoples Democratic Party candidate Atiku Abubakar came second with 29%. He likewise filed a challenge to overturn the election citing similar grounds as Obi's. The judge was in the process of striking out witness statements laid out in his petition.