The hearing of the petition filed by Peter Obi and the Labour Party continued on Monday, June 05, 2023, at the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), as the petitioners presented additional documents as evidence.
Peter Obi and the Labour Party aimed to obtain answers from INEC through this process.
The hearing of the petition filed by Peter Obi and the Labour Party continued on Monday, June 05, 2023, at the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), as the petitioners presented additional documents as evidence.
Patrick Ikwueto, SAN, represented the petitioners during the proceedings and tendered Form EC8A from eight states.
The documents submitted were certified true copies obtained from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and pertained to 13 local government areas of Ebonyi. In addition, Form EC8A was tendered for 13 local government areas of Nasarawa, 25 of Delta, 33 of Kaduna State, and 21 local government areas of Kogi.
The petitioners sought to have these documents admitted as evidence, but all respondents objected to their admissibility. The respondents indicated that they would present their reasons during the final address.
Furthermore, Ikwueto requested the court’s permission to serve interrogatories on INEC. Interrogatories consist of 12 questions posed to one party in a case by another party, which must be answered.
The petitioners aimed to obtain answers from INEC through this process. However, the respondents, including INEC, President Bola Tinubu’s counsel, and Vice-President Kashim Shettima’s counsel, expressed their opposition to the application.
Responding to the objections, the petitioners clarified that the application only concerned INEC and argued that the questions they sought to have answered were relevant to their petition. The respondents also criticized the petitioners for not adhering to the directive from the pre-hearing report, particularly regarding the timely submission of their schedule of documents.
The Chairman of the Court, Justice Haruna Tsammani, urged the petitioners to comply with the terms of the pre-hearing report and maintain professionalism. Ikwueto apologized to the court for the delay and committed to following the pre-hearing directive going forward.
The court adjourned the hearing until Tuesday, June 06, to allow the petitioners to continue presenting documents, including Forms EC8B and EC8C.
