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By Emmanuel Adeleke
The Independent National Electoral (INEC) has hired nine Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) to defend the results of the February 25 presidential election.
Recall that some candidates who lost in the election have filed petitions at the tribunal to challenge the outcome of the poll.
The team, according to City Lawyer, is to be led by former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN). Other members of the team include Stephen Adehi (SAN), Oluwakemi Pinheiro (SAN), Miannaya Essien (SAN) and Abdullahi Aliyu (SAN).
According to a member of the legal team, four SANs who are staff of INEC’s legal department are also members of the team alongside Garba Hassan, Musa Attah, and Patricia Obi.
INEC budgeted over N3 billion to defend the results of the February 25 presidential and national assembly elections as well as the March 18 governorship and state assembly polls.
The presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar; Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi; Action Alliance (AA), Solomon Okangbuan; Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Chichi Ojei, have filed petitions challenging the results of the presidential election.
INEC had on March 1, 2023, declared Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the February 25 presidential election.