The Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) of Nigeria has asked an election court to dismiss challenges to the outcome of the February presidential election.
With 37% of the vote, Bola Tinubu of the ruling APC party was declared the winner. However, his opponents, second-placed Atiku Abubakar and third-placed Peter Obi, have rejected the results and are requesting that the election tribunal annul them.
The electoral commission described the petitions filed by the opposition candidates as “grossly incompetent, vague, and academic” in its defense before the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal.
It called them an “abuse of the court process.”
Inec previously apologized for “technical glitches” that hampered the electronic transmission of polling station results.
Any discrepancies between its website results and “physical results” would be investigated and resolved, it said.
Observer groups criticized the electoral process for falling short of the required standards.
