Confused on the next course of action despite evidence of widespread rigging in 2017 polls, Raila Odinga has ruled out Supreme Court as the next option to challenge President Uhuru Kenyatta's victory.
Part of the reasons why Raila was against the idea of moving to Supreme Court, notes journalist John Onyando, was the presence of four Judges in the bench who participated in 2013 similar petition.
With pressure from US and other European nations to accept the result, a defiant Raila openly rebuked them even though he did not immediately reveal his preferred action.
But a rare phone call from Barack Obama may have changed Raila's heart when he decided to file the case almost at the the end of stipulated constitutional timeline.
"Moving to Supreme Court was not in his mind. Even within the coalition, nobody saw that coming.
"But when I asked some of his aides, they told me that Obama had called him for 1 hour and asked him to guard his reputation by following the law," recalls Onyando.
What followed was marathon collection of evidence from 15th August with University Students volunteering to be part of the team under Habiba Kibwana.
Armed with mountainous evidence, Raila and his co-principals arrived at the Supreme Court at 9pm, few hours to elapsing of the 7 day period.
While the move caught Jubilee, which had also ruled out court option, off-guard, Raila would win before boycotting October polls.
Obama visited Kenya on Sunday and praised Raila's decision to work with Uhuru Kenyatta.