The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Peter Obi clashed on Wednesday (June 14, 2023) over INEC’s unwillingness to comply with a court order to provide them with more papers for their case.
Livy Uzoukwu, the main attorney for Mr. Obi and LP, requested the court’s intervention at the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) because he had issued a subpoena to the INEC chairman’s office to provide some papers that they intended to present as evidence to the court.
This information was made public after the party submitted IREV reports for seven states, including Benue, Niger, Edo, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Gombe, and Kaduna, which were certified and downloaded by the first respondent INEC.
APC, INEC, and President Bola Tinubu all opposed the BVAS report and certificates of conformity for 28 states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which were also provided as supporting documentation.
The INEC’s attorney, Kemi Pinheiro, however, informed the court that Mr. Uzoukwu had a persistent tendency of searching for someone to pin when they wanted to request an adjournment and that his assertions were only a justification for doing so since they were out of documents to provide for the day.
Mr. Pinheiro claimed that Mahmood Yakubu, the head of INEC, had no justification for delaying the subpoenas and that it was unjust and unkind of the LP to charge INEC with refusing to receive subpoena service. Labour should refrain from using INEC as a crying trough, he told them, even though INEC was not opposed to an adjournment.
The court believed that Mr. Pinheiro could not serve because they rejected service, but Mr. Uzoukwu revealed that INEC’s lead lawyer, AB Mahmoud, has pledged to intervene. Mr. Uzoukwu was also astonished by Mr. Pinheiro’s claims.
However, Justice Haruna Simon Tsammni brought the court to order and postponed the hearings until Thursday, June 15.
