The Independent National Electoral Commission has given it’s reasons for objecting to the documents submitted by the Labour Party and its candidate, Peter Obi, in support of his petition to oust President Bola Tinubu.
The electoral body had argued against the petitioners’ use of various documents submitted to the Presidential Election Petition Court as exhibits from the beginning of the hearing and held, like other respondents, that the petition’s arguments would be made during the address stage.
In contrast, during Friday’s proceedings, Kemi Pinhero, SAN, the attorney for INEC, informed the court that the electoral organisation had objected to the presenting of the election result sheets because the petitioners had gone beyond the regions in which the election was in dispute.
He said those local government areas improperly brought into the proceedings of the court are strange to the petition and cannot stand in the face of the law.
Interjecting, the chairman of the five-man panel, Justice Harunna Tsammani, held that it was unacceptable for the lawyer to give reasons for their objection after the commission had indicated that it would advance reasons at the address stage of proceedings.
Subsequently, Peter Afoba, SAN, who conducted the proceedings for Obi and LP tendered before the PEPC, additional exhibits to back up their petition against Tinubu which were admitted and marked as Exhibits PB 16 to PB 21.
The exhibits, which were admitted in evidence by the Justice Haruna Tsammani-led panel, consisted of certified true copies of results of the presidential election from six states of the federation – Adamawa, Bayelsa, Oyo, Edo, Lagos and Akwa Ibom states.
Obi claimed in his suit that there was widespread vote suppression in Lagos State even though he won the presidential election there.
In addition, the petitioners provided the court with evidence, which included the outcome from the Bida Local Government Area in Niger State, which was accepted as Exhibit PE 24.
He submitted the election results from a few local government areas earlier on Thursday in the states of Rivers, Niger, Benue, Cross River, Osun, and Ekiti, but he omitted to submit the results for the Bida LGA in Niger.
Other respondents, including INEC, protested to the document’s inclusion and stated that they would reserve their objections until the petition’s final address stage.
The court thereafter admitted results from 21 LGAs in Adamawa State and marked them as Exhibits PH 1 to PH 21. It also admitted the results of the presidential election from eight LGAs in Bayelsa State and marked them as Exhibits PJ1 to PJ 8.
Results from 31 LGAs in Oyo that the court admitted as exhibits were marked PK 1 – PK 31, while results from 18 LGAs in Edo State were marked as Exhibits PL1- PL 18.
Further tendered were results from 20 LGAs in Lagos State, which were admitted as Exhibits PM 1 – PM 20, and results from 31 LGAs in Akwa Ibom State, accepted in evidence as Exhibits PN 1–PN 31.
The panel adjourned to Monday, June 5, for a further hearing in the matter.
