An Abuja Court of Appeal of Friday, granted candidates of the Labour Party( LP), Peter Obi and Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, a leave to access to sensitive materials used for the February 25, Presidential election.
The appellate Court which also serves as the Presidential Election Tribunal, sitting in Abuja, in a ruling on two ex- parte motion argued separately by the two parties, ordered access to all sensitive materials the Independent National Electoral Commission( INEC) , deployed for the conduct of the February 25 Presidential election.
A panel of the appellate court, led by Justice Joseph Ikyegh, made the order, after listening to two separate ex- parte applications filed by the two aggrieved parties, along with their political parties.
The acclaimed winner of the Presidential poll, Bola Tinubu, INEC and the All Progressives Congress (APC) are joined as respondents
Both applications are predicated on section 146 (1) of the Electoral Act 2022, paragraph 47(1, 2 &3) of the first schedule of the Electoral Act, as well as under the jurisdiction of the Court, as stated in section6(6)A and B, of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
The team of lawyers led by Alex Ejesieme, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria ( SAN), Atiku’s lawyers, led by Adedamola Faloku, sought seven prayers.
They had asked that they be allowed access to the documents which will, aid their petition against the outcome of the Presidential contest that was declared in favour of the APC candidate, Bola Tinubu.
The Labour Party (LP) Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, had on Thursday, filed the case against the conduct of the 2023 Presidential election, at the Presidential Election Court ( PEC), asking the court to void the pronouncement of All Progressives Congress ( APC) candidate, Bola Tinubu, as President- elect.
BusinessDay gathered that the PDP candidate had also filed a similar case at the tribunal.
Peter Obi had filed the petition on Thursday, March 2nd, pursuant to section 36(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria , 1999, as amended, section 146 of the 2022 Electoral Act and Paragraphs 47(1): 54 of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act, 2022.
Section 146 Nigeria Electoral Act 2022 (1), grants “ An order for inspection of a polling document or any other document or packet in the custody of the Chief National Electoral Commissioner or any other officer of the Commission may be made by an Election Tribunal or a Court of competent jurisdiction if it is satisfied that the order required is for the purpose of instituting, maintaining or defending an election petition.
“ (2) A document other than a document referred to in subsection (1) relating to an election and which is retained by the Chief National Electoral Commissioner or any other officer of the Commission in accordance with this section shall be open for inspection on an order made by the Election Tribunal or the Court in exercise of its powers to compel the production of documents in legal proceedings.
“ (3) Where there is a breach of an order of the Election Tribunal or the Court directed at the Commission, particularly order to produce, inspect or take copies of electoral documents or materials, the Commission shall first be summoned to show cause why it cannot comply with the order to establish disobedience before it can be deemed to have disobeyed the order.
“ (4) Such disobedience where established, shall attract court sanctions, which shall include the committal by the Tribunal or Court of the Commission’s official to whom the order is directed to summary conviction to imprisonment for at least two years, without an option of fine.
The case is brought against the Independent National Electoral Commission( INEC), Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) as defendants
Under the 2022 Electoral Act, petitions are instituted for the purposes of challenging the validity of an election or disputing the due return of a candidate.
An election petition is usually presented by a candidate in an election or a political party that took part in the elections.
Election petitions which are sui generis actions, that is to say, “they are peculiar with legal procedures and processes that are different in character from normal civil proceedings”, entail special proceedings guided by electoral law as encapsulated in the Constitution and the Electoral Act 2022.
Recall that the Labour Party ( LP) Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, on Thursday, had assured millions of his teeming supporters that he will not abandon his mandate and vowed to prove to the world that he won the February 25 Presidential election.
Obi, had while addressing a World Press Conference at the Transcorp Hilton hotel, Abuja, on Thursday, assured that he will not abandon his mandate but lead in ensuring that the nation overcome the current political darkness, trying to envelop the country.
Obi had accused Mahmood Yakubu, the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC ), of violating essential provisions of the 2022 Electoral Act on the transmission of results from the polling units to the INEC viewing center.
This followed the declarations by INEC on Wednesday, pronouncing Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC ) Presidential candidate, as winner of the poll, with a total of 8,794,726 votes, while Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) had 6,984, 520 and Peter Obi scored 6,101,533 votes.
But Obi declared the results as a daylight robbery, and vowed to do everything legally possible to reclaim the stolen mandate.
He stated that the election was “conducted and results announced as programmed”
He noted that the election will go down as one of the most controversially conducted in Nigeria, added that “Nigerians have been robbed.”
Obi, while pleading with Nigerians to be calm, added that this will not be the end of the struggle, adding that “It requires that we now do the right thing.
“I’m not going away, I will lead until we overcome this darkness until day breaks
Obi recalled that he had vowed to govern by the rule of law, adding that he will explore all legal options to reclaim the mandate. He therefore urged Nigerians to come out and vote during the forthcoming gubernatorial election, on the 11th of March, 2023.
Speaking on possible pressures to step down, he stated that “ No one will put me under pressures. When I challenge, I challenge their misconducts, rascality and irregularity. I am challenging a process that is faulty and wrong.”
