Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has selected a team of legal experts to defend the results of Nigeria's February 25 presidential election.

Nine Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) have been appointed for the task, with former Nigerian Bar Association President Abubakar Mahmoud leading the team.

Other members of the team include Stephen Adehi, Oluwakemi Pinheiro, Miannaya Essien, and Abdullahi Aliyu.

In addition, four SANs from INEC’s legal department, Garba Hassan, Musa Attah, and Patricia Obi, have also been selected.

The commission has allocated over N3 billion for the defense of the results of both the presidential and national assembly elections held on February 25, as well as the governorship and state assembly polls on March 18.

Several candidates who lost in the elections have already filed petitions at the presidential and state election petition tribunals to challenge the outcome of the polls, with over 100 election petitions filed so far across the country. Among the candidates who filed petitions for the nullification of the presidential election results are Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, Peter Obi of the Labour Party, Solomon Okangbuan of the Action Alliance, and Chichi Ojei of the Allied Peoples Movement.

On March 1, 2023, INEC declared Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, as winner of the February 25 presidential election.