Political Parties Recruit Senior Advocates To Fight Legal Battle Over Election Results

People's Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party (LP) candidate Peter Gregory Obi are all set to fight the legal battle over presidential election results with their respective armies of senior advocates.

The ruling APC won the presidential election poll held on Feb. 25. However, opposition PDP and LP refused to accept the outcome of the results and now, they have hired Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) for a legal battle.

To defend the victory, APC has also gathered an army of lawyers to fight against both parties. Looking at the aggressive preparation of the legal battle, where more than 50+ SANs are involved, it seems none of the parties is ready to give up easily.

Umar Farouk, who serves as the National Secretary of the Labour Party, revealed that their party has more than 20 SANs.

"We have more than 20 SANs that are willing to participate and offer their services for the renewal and emergence of a new Nigeria," Farouk told Punch on Wednesday. "As I am talking to you, our lawyers are working on it."

He continued, "But this is not something we can discuss on the pages of a newspaper. All I can tell you is that we have started 'trekking' to the court."

Here's a list of some advocates reportedly working on behalf of the Labour Party:

• Dr. Livy Uzoukwu
• Chief Awa Kalu
• Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu
• P.I.N. Ikwueto
• Chief Ben Anyachebe
• S.T. Hon
• Arthur Obi Okafor
• Ik Ezechukwu
• J.S. Okutepa
• Dr. Valerie Azinge
• Emeka Okpoko
• Alex Ejesieme

Considering PDP candidate Atiku Abubakar's legal team, there are a bunch of high-profile SANs alongside a renowned Senior Advocate of Nigeria. Here are some of the names that will fight the legal battle on behalf of PDP, which came second in the election:

• Chris Uche
• Chief Goddy Uche
• Prof. Maxwell Gidado
• Nuremi Jimoh
• Abdul Ibrahim
• Mrs. Nella Rabana
• Mr. O. Atoyebi
• Paul Usoro
• Tayo Jegede
• Ken Mozia
• Mike Ozekhome
• Mahmood Magaji
• Joe Abraham
• Chukwuma Umeh
• Garba Tetengi
• Emeka Etiaba

APC, on the other hand, has a legal team that consists of 12 SANs and the National Legal Adviser of the Party, Ahmad Usman El-Marzuq (Esq.). El-Marzuq disclosed that their legal team will be led by Prince Lateef Fagbemi alongside other lawyers including:

• Sam Ologunorisa
• Murtala Abdulrasheed
• Rotimi Ogunesom Olabisi Soyebo
• Gboyega Oyebowale
• Pius Akubo
• Aliyu Saiki
• Oluseye Opasanya
• Tajudeen Oladoja
• Kazeem Adeniyi
• Suraju Saida

"We are confident that the legal team possesses the requisite expertise and experience to ensure a successful outcome for the APC in the Presidential Election Petition matters," El-Marzuq said in a statement, TheGuardian reported.

"We urge members of the Party to support the team in its effort to defend the will and mandate of the people," he added. "We also call on all parties involved to conduct themselves with the utmost professionalism and respect for the rule of law throughout the legal process."

The legal battle started after APC candidate Bola Tinubu won the presidential election against the PDP and LP candidates.

Tinubu received 8,794,726 votes while Abubakar got 6,984,520 votes. Obi, on the other hand, secured the third position with 6,101,533 votes. These polling results were shared by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which was rejected by the PDP and LP.

Both parties said in separate press conferences that they will be challenging INEC's decision in court. Last week, they also protested outside INEC's office.