The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar did not meet the constitutional requirements to be declared winner of the February 25 election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said.
The commission urged the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) to dismiss the petition by Atiku and his party.
It said: “The first petitioner (Atiku), failed to score, at least, one-quarter of the votes cast in at least two-thirds of the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and as such could not have been declared the winner.”
As against the claim by the petitioners, INEC added: “The election was conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act 2022 and was not marred by any corrupt practices.”
The commission said the President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu validly won the election.
INEC said the FCT is not accorded any special status in the constitution as being erroneously portrayed by some political parties and candidates who lost the election.
The umpire stated these in its reply to the petition by the PDP and Atiku.
