The lawsuit filed by seven state governments run by governors affiliated with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seeking a Supreme Court review of the election results on February 25 has been dropped.
With regard to the 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections, the state governments of Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Taraba, and Sokoto had filed a lawsuit against the federal government with the Supreme Court.
The lawsuit was brought by the state attorneys general, who pleaded with the Supreme Court to become involved in the recently held general elections. They predicated their assertions on the potential for civil disobedience and a collapse in public order.
Their lawsuit contested the All Progressives Congress (APC) nominee for president, Bola Tinubu, being recognized as the winner.
But on Friday, Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria who brought the lawsuit on behalf of the seven states, requested that the matter be dropped.
The lawsuit was brought, in accordance with the unambiguous terms of the Electoral Act, the INEC Guidelines and Regulations, and the manual for INEC workers, “during the erroneous manual collation of results,” according to Mr. Ozekhome.
He claimed that the lawsuit had to be dropped because the erroneous results had already been revealed and a President-elect had been named, albeit illegally and against the law.
He added, with the declaration, the case had been overtaken by events and it “will now be a (election petition) tribunal matter”.