The candidates for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and his Labour Party, LP, rival, Peter Obi, are announcing two months after the 2023 presidential election that they won the vote.
The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, is also distributing media statements with denials of the results of the polls, so they are not alone in the controversy.
Given that the cases are the subject of litigation, the developments are seen as concerning.
On May 29, Bola Tinubu, Nigeria's incoming president, will take office.
Atiku and Obi, his two main rivals, aren't giving up on their contention that they, not Tinubu, were the election's winners, though.
President Muhammadu Buhari claimed a few days ago that the opposition lost the election as a result of overconfidence.
He said: “They were already telling their foreign backers that they would defeat the APC. Our Party blended confidence with caution, we worked hard and won. Now, their overconfidence is creating more problems for the opposition than anyone else. They are finding it hard to convince those who supported them from outside why they are unable to beat us
"A combination of over confidence, complacency and bad tactical moves made them lose, plain and clear. This has created more problems in their camp. Why did they fail to remove us?â€
Additionally, Lai Mohammed, the minister of information and culture, urged the opposition to stop ruminating endlessly about their dismal defeat in the previous election.
However, the PDP has retaliated, insisting that Atiku was the election's victor.
Atiku won the presidential election, according to results from polling places, but the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, declared Tinubu the winner, according to Debo Ologunagba, national publicity secretary of the opposition party.
He said, “The PDP insists that its candidate, Atiku clearly won the February 25, 2023 Presidential election, as shown from the actual votes cast at the Polling Units across the country.
"The PDP describes the subjudice claims by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, that the opposition lost the election, as yet another in the series of attempts by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Executive to bully and blackmail the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.
“Nigerians are aware that by the authentic results obtained from the Polling Units, Atiku Abubakar and not the APC candidate met all the conditions stipulated for the winning of the Presidential election.â€
Peter Obi of the Labour Party also reiterated his position that he was the election winner during a meeting of party stakeholders.
Obi, who finished third in the election, declared he would use all legal means at his disposal to reclaim the mandate he claimed had been stolen.
Obi wrote: “Earlier, I interacted with the Anambra State Labour Party Stakeholders in Awka. The meeting was quite animated and constructive. Part of our discussions centred on the way forward for the party.
“I reassured them of my readiness to go all the way, explore every available legal option to ensure that we get our mandate back. I appreciated all their support so far, as I assured them of mine. PO.â€
The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal is anticipated to resume hearing all the cases filed by the various political parties after the parties exchanged processes.
At the Tribunal, five political parties are arguing to have Tinubu's victory declared invalid.
The PDP, LP, Allied People's Movement, Action Alliance, and Action People's Party are among them.
According to the INEC's results, Tinubu received 8,794,726 votes, placing him ahead of Atiku of the PDP, who received 6,984,520, and Peter Obi of the LP, who received 6,101,533 votes. With 1,496,687 votes, Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) came in fourth place.
Barr Olu Omotayo, a legal legend, claimed that the behavior of the politicians following the presidential election is strange.
The attorney told DAILY POST that he had anticipated prompt action from both the judiciary and the Nigerian Bar Association.
"What is happening now is very strange; we never saw it before, but this particular year is very different.
“People who have their matters pending before the court are still going to the press saying one thing or the other, to likely prejudice the outcome.
“When a matter is before the court, you don’t comment on it, so that you give the judges some free hand; you don’t put them under some form of fear.
“It is unfortunate and because of the weak institution, the court is not as active as in those days; if not, the office of the CJN would have been able to say something about it and warned them.
“The office of the CJN would have directed the political parties to stop all those things since their matter is in court. But the courts are not saying anything. The CJN who is supposed to be the protector of the courts is not taking action on this.
“Even the bar also, the Nigerian Bar Association, you see lawyers also who know how things are supposed to be, you see them making inflammatory statements, even making press statements on what is pending before the tribunal, very senior lawyers; so the lawyers have to be blamed; they are not advising their clients that this matter is pending.
“It is unfortunate that Senior Advocates, very senior lawyers are also making statements in a pending matter before the tribunal and it should stop,†Omotayo counselled.