Again, INEC denies Obi’s request to tender exhibits in 17 states against Tinubu’s election

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has strongly opposed a request by Mr Peter Gregory Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), and his party to tender exhibits in 17 states of the federation opposing the election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The exhibits, primarily from EC8B, used by the electoral body in collating results at the state ward level during the February 25 presidential election were opposed to being tendered by INEC, which issued the exhibits to Obi and the Labour Party.

INEC, represented at the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria SAN, Steve Adehi, informed the court that he would provide a rationale for his objections at the address stage of the proceedings.

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Mr Benbella Anachebe, Obi’s lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria SAN, explained that the exhibits were obtained from INEC custody while introducing the documents.

Furthermore, Anachebe stated that the documents were duly certified by the electoral body before being distributed to his clients.

Apart from INEC, which conducted the disputed election, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC), who were declared election winners, also objected to the exhibits’ admission.

However, in accordance with the pre-hearing report and counsel agreements, the reasons for the objections are to be reserved at the address stage of the petition hearing.

Adamawa, Bayelsa, Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, Ondo, Sokoto, Delta, and Ekiti are the states where the exhibits were tendered and accepted.

Imo, Kaduna, Oyo, Cross River, Edo, Akwa Ibom, and Lagos are among the others.

The case of Ebonyi was postponed because INEC had yet to make the exhibits available to the two petitioners.

The exhibits revealed that the combined Ward results were tendered in 21 local government areas in Adamawa, eight in Bayelsa, 23 in Benue, 21 in Kogi, 11 in Nasarawa, 25 in Niger, 18 in Ondo, 23 in Sokoto, and 25 in Delta.

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The remaining 11 are from Ekiti state, 25 from Imo, 21 from Kaduna, 27 from Oyo, 18 from Cross River, 15 from Edo, 31 from Akwa Ibom, and 20 from Lagos.

Meanwhile, the Court’s Chairman, Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, has postponed further hearings in the petition until June 7.