Grounds For Election Petition And Time Bound Nature

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conducted the Presidential and National Assembly Elections and has declared Bola Ahmed Tinubu the President-Elect. The declaration has since been rejected by his opponents Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi who have vowed to challenge the outcome of the election in court. As a result, the need to consider the grounds for challenging an election arises.

Section 134 of the Electoral Act, 2022 provides that a party who intends to challenge the process and or outcome of an election can do so on the following grounds:

1. A person whose election is questioned was, at the time of the election, not qualified to contest the election;
2. The election was invalid by reason of corrupt practices and non-compliance with the provisions of this Act; or