A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Olisa Agbakoba, on Wednesday, said the 2023 presidential election is very certain and the toughest ever in Nigeria’s history.
Nigerians will go to the polls on February 25 to elect President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor. Already, there are strong contenders for the nation’s top job – Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party’s Peter Obi and his counterpart in the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso. The race is predicted is to be a tightly contested election.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Agbakoba said should the election end in a run-off, a winner would emerge through a simple majority.
“This is the toughest election that we are going into, very uncertain. We have for the first time a very serious third force,” he stated.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared its ability to conduct a run-off should that happen.
Earlier, Agbakoba asked INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, to clarify the commission’s position on section 134 of the 1999 constitution to the public.
The former NBA President stated that his request for clarification on the provision of the section was premised on the seemingly ambiguous nature of the section even as it concerns electoral processes.
The Section 134 of the 1999 Constitution provides requirements to be met by a Presidential candidate in relation to the office of the President of Nigeria, a clause that the Senior Advocate says requires clarification by the electoral umpire.
