Whether people like it or not, according to the Nigerian Bar Association, Bola Tinubu is the president of Nigeria as of right now because INEC’s decision to declare him the winner of the presidential election on February 25 was “a function of laws.”
“Laws are the reason Tinubu is president today. It’s a feature of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s constitution. The Electoral Act has the power to do it.
In an ARISE TV interview that aired Sunday night, NBA president Yakubu Maikyau defended Mr. Tinubu’s invitation to deliver the opening statement at the just finished NBA conference. “What I’ve done is simply to recognize the position of the law,” he said.
Without regard to the propensity of petitions against President Tinubu’s election and proclamation, Mr. Maikyau continued, “As far as the law is concerned today in this country, he is the president and commander-in-chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the president of this country, and I went to him because I defer to the law, not to the whims and caprices of individuals. This is not a function of anybody’s sentiment or whims and caprices.”
Mr Maikyau reasoned that “when anything had been declared by a public officer, there is a presumption, rebuttable though, that all that needed to be done, had been so done and that the person who made that declaring has the authority to make the declaration.”
Then, he asked, “Did the INEC chairman have the authority to make the declaration that he did?”
“Yes,” said the NBA leader. “When he declared Tinubu as president, there is a presumption that enured in favour of Tinubu as the candidate at that time, now president under the auspices of the APC, that all that needed to be done, that all the requirements that needed to be declared as president has been satisfied.”
Mr Maikyau further argued, “Who else should I invite? Should I not recognise the provisions of the law? Are we without a president because there is a pending petition? No.”
Mr Tinubu’s invitation to the NBA conference sparked reactions, with many arguing that it was improper, given that the president’s electoral victory is facing scrutiny at the presidential election petitions tribunal, as Atiku Abubakar (PDP) and Peter Obi (Labour Party) seek the nullification of Mr Tinubu’s victory on several grounds.
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