ING Plot: Conclude Presidential Petitions Before May 29, Agbakoba Tells Tribunal

FORMER President of Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, said yesterday that speedy dispensation of presidential election petitions was a strategy against having an interim national government, ING.

In a statement yesterday, the former NBA boss said there would be no need for an interim government if the petitions were heard and disposed of before May 29.

He said: “The tension around the call for an interim government is that the presidential election petition may not conclude before the inauguration of a new president on May 29, 2023.

“But it’s very possible to conclude these petitions, provided the court systems are very proactive.
“Under arbitration matters, procedural orders and or directions issue peremptorily to resolve sometimes very complex jurisdictional and procedural issues.

“The presidential election tribunals are urged to adapt the procedures very familiar with speedy conclusion of arbitration matters.”
Agbakoba listed three key issues in the presidential election petitions, which he said were resolvable by the application of procedural orders and or directions.

According to him, the first is the “interpretation of Section 134 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as to whether securing 25%(per cent) of votes in Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja is compulsory to be president.”

On the second, he queried: “Is a candidate permitted to stand for presidential or vice presidential election when he is at the same time a senatorial candidate?”

Source:- Vanguard Ngr