You Can’t Question INEC Chairman – Presidential Tribunal To Obi, LP

The Presidential Election Petition Court has rejected the Labour Party’s plea to serve specific written questions, known as “Interrogatories,” to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) regarding its plans, preparations, and conduct of the 2023 presidential elections.

The request was made by the Labour Party and its candidate, Peter Obi, as part of their petition challenging INEC’s declaration of Bola Tinubu from the All Progressives Congress (APC) as President.

All respondents in the case, including INEC, Tinubu, Kashim Shetima, and the APC, objected to the motion, arguing that it could only be entertained during the pre-hearing stage, which had already lapsed. Despite Obi’s lawyer asserting that the motion was filed before the closure of the pre-hearing, the court deemed it abandoned.

Justice Haruna Tsammani, who prepared the lead ruling, cited various legal authorities and emphasized that the petitioners had failed to move or bring attention to their motion.

The court explained that mere filing of a motion was insufficient, as it was the applicant’s responsibility to request the court’s consideration. The justices noted that the petitioners did not disclose any exceptional circumstances warranting the court’s approval for hearing the motion outside the pre-hearing session.

The unanimous decision highlighted the tardiness of Obi’s lawyers, indicating that the court could not assist them. Subsequently, the court proceeded to review video evidence presented by Obi, which showed INEC Chairman Professor Mahmoud Yakubu pledging to upload election results.

In the video of a live TV interview, Yakubu expressed the commitment to deploying the Biometric Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and transmitting real-time results to the I-Rev result viewing portal on Election Day.

Another video evidence displayed before the court showcased INEC’s National Commissioner, Festus Okoye, explaining the BVAS’s role in voter accreditation, result scanning, and uploading to the I-Rev portal. The court’s assessment of these videos will likely play a crucial role in the ongoing proceedings.

While the request for interrogatories has been denied, the presidential election petition case continues, and further arguments and evidence will be presented by the parties involved.