The legal team of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi have vowed to take action against the the Indepedent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Mahmoud Yakubu following the deliberate refusal of the Commission to allow the legal team of the LP candidate inspect election materials in line with the order of the Court of Appeal.
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The court in the ruling last Wednesday refused to grant a request by INEC seeking to vary the order of the court granting access to Obi as well as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Atiku Abubakar to inspect the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and other election materials.
The panel in the ruling said the application was unnecessary because the court never granted permission to Atiku, Obi, and their parties to scientifically access and inspect INEC’s database.
The tribunal said the apprehension being expressed by INEC, which includes the possible revelation of the identities of voters and their voting choices, was unnecessary because no applicant was granted leave to access ÏNEC’s data base.
Ruling on INEC’s motion, the 3-man panel held that the electoral umpire’s application is without merit and is refused, noting that all the orders allowing Obi to inspect election materials stand.
INEC, in apparent reaction to the ruling, stated that the commission was not against litigants inspecting election materials, while reaffirming that it will continue to grant all litigants access to the materials they require to pursue their cases in court.
But speaking to newsmen on Saturday, a member of Obi’s legal team, Alex Ejesieme SAN, said that the electoral umpire has not granted them access to election materials.
He accused INEC of deliberately trying to delay Obi’s legal team from instituting a petition against the presidential election as prescribed by the Electoral Act, adding that the electoral umpire knows that accessing the election materials will expose alleged ballot rigging in the election.
According to the lawyer, “Well, we have written to them (INEC), we have done everything possible and they have refused to allow us to inspect. So, we are going to review our positions this weekend and by Monday, we will know the next thing to do,” the lawyer said.
“Yes. You know, what they are doing is deliberate. Ordinarily, the proper thing for us to do is to commence committal proceedings against the INEC chairman and the officers involved but remember, by the Electoral Act 2022, we are supposed to file a petition”.
The SAN said the legal team was ready to take necessary measures for the commission to comply with the order of the court.
“We will take steps to mount pressure on them to allow us to have copies of the electoral materials in line with the order of the court of Appeal,” Ejesieme added.
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