National News
APC nominates 12 senior advocates to defend Tinubu’s mandate
In the recently completed elections, the All Progressives Congress (APC) nominated 12 Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) to defend the nomination of Bola Tinubu as its presidential candidate.
In 12 of Nigeria’s 36 states, Tinubu received 8,794,726 votes, nearly two million more than his nearest rival, former vice president and PDP candidate Atiku Abubakar (PDP).
Peter Obi, the candidate for the Labour Party (LP), finished the contest with 6,101,533, placing second to Atiku with 6,984,520 votes. Both Atiku and Obi have declared their rejection of the election’s results and their intention to take it to court.
However, the opposing party claims it is ready to speak with the parties in court. Ahmad Usman El-Marzuq, the party’s national legal adviser, issued a statement on Tuesday releasing the 13-man list comprising 12 senior advocates.
Top on the list is a legal icon, Wole Olanipekun, who is also the lead counsel to the ruling party at the Presidential Election Tribunal.
“The All Progressives Congress (APC) has appointed a team of highly qualified and experienced lawyers to represent the Party at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal,” the statement read.
“The team is comprised of legal luminaries with vast experience in election petition matters, constitutional law, and litigation.
“The legal team consisting of twelve (12) Senior Advocates of Nigeria and the National Legal Adviser of the Party, Ahmad Usman El-Marzuq, Esq., is led by Prince Lateef Fagbemi SAN, a renowned lawyer who has successfully handled various high-profile election matters and other landmark cases.”
Other members of the list are Ahmad Usman El-Marzuq, Sam Ologunorisa, Rotimi Oguneso, Olabisi Soyebo, Gboyega Oyewole, Muritala Abdulrasheed, Aliyu Omezia Saiki, Tajudeen Oladoja, Pius Akubo, Oluseye Opasanya, Suraju Saida and Kazeem Adeniyi.
The party is “confident that the legal team possesses requisite expertise and experience to ensure a successful outcome for the APC in the Presidential Election Petition matters.”
It also urged party members to support the team in its effort to defend the will and mandate of the people, calling on all parties involved to conduct themselves with the utmost professionalism and respect for the rule of law throughout the legal process.
