The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Monday in Abuja began its defence of the February 25 presidential election on a shaky note, with none of its three witnesses present at the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), according to a report released today by the DAILY POST.
More so, Mr Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, is urging the court to nullify Mr Tinubu’s victory on account of alleged electoral fraud perpetrated by INEC, amongst other issues. However, contrary to the scheduled activities of the Court, INEC, which conducted the disputed election and billed to open defence, came to the court without any witness, based on the report.
Photo Credit: DAILY POST
Furthermore, “at the resumed hearing on Monday, INEC’s lawyer, Abubakar Mahmoud, informed the five-member panel of the court chaired by Haruna Tsammani that the case would not go on as scheduled, saying that the witness he had scheduled to testify could not make it to court on Monday”, based on the report.
Moreover, Mr. Mahmood pleaded with the court to bear with him and applied for adjournment of his defense, as the lead counsel to Obi, Dr Livy Uzuoku SAN, expressed shock and surprise with the conduct of the electoral body, saying INEC lawyer supposed to have been taken him into confidence before the start of the proceedings, based on the report.
However, “the presiding Justice of the Court, Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, subsequently fixed a new date of July 4 for the electoral body. In addition, the lawyer who stood for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN, and the lawyer who stood for All Progressives Congress, Prince Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi SAN, did not object to request for adjournment of INEC’s plea for the case to be shifted”, according to the report.
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