The candidate of the main opposition party who came second in the presidential election at the end of February in Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, officially filed a legal appeal on Tuesday evening to contest the victory of Bola Tinubu, of the ruling party.
On Monday, the surprise youth candidate Peter Obi also took legal action to challenge his defeat, he who finished third in the February 25 ballot marked by serious technical failures, provoking the ire of some voters.
"Massive Fraud"
The former governor of Lagos, Bola Tinubu, nicknamed the "
Godfather
" for his immense influence, won the presidential election by accumulating 37% of the votes, but the opposition denounced "
massive fraud
" after numerous delays in the electronic transmission of results.
Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president of Nigeria, came second with 29% of the vote, followed by Peter Obi who obtained 25% of the vote.
The candidate of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), the main opposition party, assures that the election must be invalidated because the Electoral Commission (Inec) violated the electoral law.
Among other accusations, Atiku Abubakar denounces vote rigging and calls for the organization of a new election or the proclamation of his victory.
Read alsoBola Tinubu takes charge of a Nigeria in crisis
Atiku Abubakar, who was in his sixth attempt to run for president, said ahead of the election that he would accept his eventual defeat, having previously unsuccessfully challenged President Muhammadu Buhari's 2019 victory.
Peter Obi, candidate adored by urban youth, from the small Labor Party (LP), created a surprise by coming third, weakening the domination of the APC and the PDP which have ruled Nigeria since the end of the military dictatorships in 1999.
For his part, Peter Obi argues in particular that Bola Tinubu should have been declared ineligible because of embezzlement linked to drug trafficking involving some 500,000 dollars in one of his bank accounts in the United States in the 1990s. Analysts provide for these appeals to reach the Supreme Court, as during the previous presidential election, in 2019. In accordance with the Constitution, outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari hands over to his successor in May after two terms marked by the explosion of poverty and insecurity.