Agbakoba: There’s no constitutional process to delay Tinubu’s inauguration

Olisa Agbakoba, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), says the swearing-in of Bola Tinubu as president is bound to happen on May 29.

Tinubu, the standard bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was declared as the winner of the February 25 presidential poll with 8,794,726 votes.

However, criticism has trailed the outcome of the election with many calling for a halt of the inauguration scheduled for May 29 until presidential election petitions are determined.

In a statement on Monday, Agbakoba urged Nigerians to obey the rule of law, adding that there is no provision in the constitution that can stop the swearing-in.

“It is important to state that the inauguration of Mr Bola Tinubu on 29 May 2023 is bound to happen under our constitutional process,” he said.

“While the election tribunal deals with the petitions there is no constitutional process to delay the inauguration on 29 May.

“We need to obey the rule of constitutionalism.”

TheCable reported that Datti Baba-Ahmed, the vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), said  Tinubu did not meet the constitutional requirements to become Nigeria’s president.

Speaking in an interview on Channels Television, Baba-Ahmed said Tinubu failed to fulfill the requirements stipulated in the section of the 1999 constitution (as amended) for election to the office of the president.