From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi on Monday tendered in exhibits, more certified true copies of polling unit result sheets contained in INEC Form EC8As from eight states of the federation.
The results were subsequently admitted in evidence by the Presidential Election Petition Court, inspite stiff opposition of their admimissibilty by counsel to the respondents in the petition that is challenging the outcome of the February 25 presidential election.
In their joint petition marked CA/PEPC/03/2023, Obi and his Labour Party are disputing the presidential election results declared in favour of President Tinubu in over 17 states and over 18,000 polling units with his petition also alleging overvoting in parts of the South West.
When hearing resumes on Monday evening, a senior counsel in the legal team of the petitionerss, Chief Ben Anichebe SAN told the five-man panel of the court led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, that he would be continuing with the tendering of INEC certified Forms EC8As and some EC8C and EC8D (as they are available) for 8 states.
He went on to tender the INEC Form EC8As(polling unit results) for Ebonyi state with 13 LGAs (Exhibit PP1- PP13), Nasarawa (13 LGAs), Delta (25 LGAs), Kaduna State(23 LGAs), Imo (26 LGAs).
It was then the turn of Dr Mrs Valerie Azinge SAN, who took over from Anichebe, tendering CTC of polling unit results for Ondo (18 LGAs), Sokoto (7 LGAs) and Kogi states(21 LGAs).
But the legal team of INEC, Tinubu, Shettima and APC, vehemently mentopposed admission of the documents sought to be tendered, saying the reasons for their opposition will be advanced before their final address.
Justice Tsammani subsequently admitted the polling unit results as evidence while marking them as Obi’s exhibits against the respondents.
During the early stages of the proceedings, a member of Obi’s legal team, Patrick Ekweto SAN informed the court about an interrogatory application which they filed seeking certain answers from INEC regarding accessing electoral materials.
He argued that for the petitioners’ case, the issues and answers the team seek to extract from INEC are germane for the trial.
“I am aware that before your pre-hearing report on May 23 , before that date, the petitioners’ filed an application on May 22 seeking leave to serve or deliver interrogatories on the first respondent.
There are indeed about 12 questions which we indeed put down for them in that application.
“On the June 2, we filed an application for my lord’s leave, to enable us hear the application outside the pre-hearing session,” he said, praying the court to grant it urgently in view of the time bound nature of the PEPC.
But counsels for INEC and Tinubu opposed the application saying they are still within time to file their responses.
INEC counsel, A.B. Mahmoud described the application as a waste of time.
The panel held it would rule on it after the respondents have responded to the application.
The petitioners have so far tendered INEC Forms EC8As for 12 states, including Rivers, Niger, Adamawa, Bayelsa, Oyo, Edo, Lagos, Akwa Ibom, Benue, Cross River and Ekiti states.
This is apart from five documents earlier tendered as evidence, including a United States District Court judgement on Tinubu’s forfeiture of 460,000 US dollars allegedly linked to drug trafficking.
Objections were raised against all the documents by the Independent National Electoral Commission, Tinubu, Kashim Shettima and the All Progressives Congress
The case was subsequently adjourned to Tuesday for continuation of hearing.