It has become a norm in Nigeria that after elections, numerous petitions and rejections will follow.
Many Nigerians had hoped that the 2023 elections will be different, as President Muhammadu Buhari had vowed to deliver a free, fair and credible elections.
However, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), clearly failed to keep to its words. Most Nigerians now think differently about its credibility.
Now, political parties and governorship candidates defeated in the gubernatorial election held on the 18th of March, have vowed to seek legal action.
Others have taken to the streets in their respective states to challenge the results declarations by INEC.
Below is a list of states where defeated candidates are opposing results:
Kano State
The Kano State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday gave INEC a seven-day ultimatum to review the declaration of the results.
The returning officer for Kano, Professor Ahmad Doko Ibrahim, on Monday declared the governorship candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Abba Kabir Yusuf the winner.
APC reacted via a press conference through its legal adviser for the state chapter, Abdul Fagge.
The party says INEC returning officer erred in law and acted ultra vires of the Electoral Act by distinguishing cancellations due to violence and over-voting and deciding only to consider the latter in the final consideration of the margin of lead.
According to Fagge, 273,442 PVCs were collected in areas where the election was cancelled as a result of violence and over-voting.
He says the figure meant that the margin of victory (128,897) used to declare Yusuf of the NNPP was not sufficient based on the Electoral Act.
To him, it is astonishing that with the same election, 16 of the House of Assembly elections held the same day and under the same conditions were declared inconclusive by INEC.
The Leader of the House of Representatives, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, spoke on the issue.
He said INEC departed completely from the conditions it used to declare his own federal constituency’s election results as inconclusive.
Borno State
In Borno, the governorship candidate of the NNPP, Mohammed Mustapha, is set to challenge the outcome of the election.
His reason is that his party’s name and logo were missing from the ballot paper.
Bauchi State
In Bauchi State, the APC rejects the results of the governorship election in the state.
The party said: “We consider the figures that were released as totally unacceptable”.
This came after the candidate of the PDP and state Governor, Bala Mohammed was declared the winner.
The returning officer, Professor Abdulkarim Sabo Muhammed, announced the result on Monday announced the results.
He said the PDP candidate, Bala Mohammed polled 525,280 to defeat the APC candidate, Air Marshal Sadique Baba Abubakar who scored 433,272 votes.
However, Sadaque Baba Abubakar has rejected the results.
He says the election was characterised by primitive violence, thuggery, intimidation, harassment of opponents and throwing out of APC agents in many polling units in the state.
Abubakar said: “To say the least, it is very unfortunate, apart from the intimidation and harassment of APC members and agents from polling units and collation centres, we also saw the use of primitive violence in at least seven LGAs.
In Warji LGA, there was violence and destruction of election materials.
The video is out there for everybody to see.
APC members were harassed, intimidated and attacked, which prevented many of our members from coming to cast their votes.
Therefore, what came from Warji was not the true reflection of what the people of Warji wanted.
Because figures were invented, papers were written and that was what was submitted and sadly too, this submission was accepted”.
Taraba State
Taraba State is also boiling.
The NNPP’s candidate, Sani Muhammed Yahaya, rejected the governorship election results declared by INEC.
Yahaya says the results were not what was recorded in the field.
He claims he won the election, but the result was manipulated.
The NNPP candidate urged his supporters to be calm and not to take the law into their hands as he had already started the legal process to challenge the results.
Delta State
INEC is not finding it easy in Delta State too.
The APC and its governorship candidate, Senator James Omo-Agege rejected the election results.
The Young Progressive Party (YPP) candidate, Sunny Ofehe, also rejected the results of the governorship election in the state.
A petition signed by Godwin Anaughe, director, of election and strategy of APC Governorship Campaign Council, accused the returning officer of collating the results in complete breach of provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.
He said the party was disputing results from 20 local government areas.
According to him, nine local government areas are being disputed in Delta north, seven in Delta south and four in Delta Central Senatorial Districts.
On his part, the YPP candidate, comrade Sunny Ofehe described the election as a mere selection.
He says huge fraud was sadly perpetrated.
Sunny says his party has substantial evidence to expose the fraud that took place across polling units and wards in each of the 25 local government councils in the state.
Plateau State
The governorship candidate of the APC in Plateau, Nentawe Yilwatda, rejected the outcome of the election.
Yilwatda told a gathering of supporters on Monday evening that the election was rigged in some areas.
He believes the results could be upturned by the court.
“We were sincere in our voting.
“We didn’t rig anywhere. In two LGAs, they gave us a difference of over 100 thousand votes. We knew it was rigged.
We reported low voter turnout and yet the votes increased by over 30%. How can low voter turnout become high vote turnout? We will collect our mandate.
I am comfortable and strong”, Yilwatda said.
Lagos State
Lagos State is not left out in the battle.
Labour Party’s Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour says he won the election.
He vows to go to court to challenge the declaration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu as the winner of the exercise.
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Akwa Ibom State
In Akwa Ibom State, the YPP said it would challenge the results of the governorship election.
The PDP candidate, Pastor Umo Eno was declared the winner of the election.
The secretary of the YPP, Kelvin Umoh, cited rigging and violence, which resulted in the death of party supporters and destruction of materials as reasons for the rejection.
Katsina State
Lado Danmarke, the PDP candidate in Katsina rejected the result and condemned the declaration by INEC.
He says his party will reclaim its mandate through legal means.
Jigawa State
In Jigawa, Mustapha Sule Lamido of the (PDP) said he would consult with the elders of the party and communicate his decision.
Kaduna State ‘Daylight Robbery’
PDP in Kaduna State rejected the declaration of the candidate of the APC, Uba Sani, as the winner of the governorship election.
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The chairman of the PDP in the state, Felix Hassan Hyet, described the outcome as “daylight robbery”.
He alleged that INEC was complicit in denying the people of the state what they actually voted for.
