Ahead of the election petitions tribunal delivering ruling on the legitimate winner of the February 25 presidential poll on Wednesday, Pro-President Bola Tinubu protesters under the aegis of Niger-Delta for Tinubu have stormed the Court of Appeal premises in solidarity with the incumbent.

Youth dressed in black and red attire branded with ex-militant Asari Dokubo’s name, an ally of Mr Tinubu, arrived at the court early Wednesday, holding placards, singing, and dancing.

Inscriptions on the placards said, ‘Niger Deltans stand with the mandate given to BAT by over 200 million Nigerians’, ‘President Tinubu loves Niger Delta’, and ‘Thank you Tinubu for restoring the Niger Delta Ministry’.

On Monday, the tribunal fixed September 6 for ruling on petitions challenging the victory of Mr Tinubu.

Atiku Abubakar (Peoples Democratic Party) and Peter Obi (Labour Party), both candidates in the last presidential poll, are claiming to be the legitimate winner of the election instead of Mr Tinubu.

Mr Abubakar polled 6.9 million votes, and Mr Obi had 6.1 million votes in the election. 

Mahmood Yakubu-led Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Mr Tinubu the winner on March 1. 

Failure to garner a 25 per cent vote in the Federal Capital Territory and his past forfeiture of monies linked to drug pushing, amongst others, are grounds the opposition candidates are challenging Mr Tinubu’s victory.