The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, Wednesday, accused the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, of evading the service of a witness summons on him.
Obi had alleged that the 2023 presidential election was rigged, and dragged the All Progressives Congress (APC), President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and INEC before the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) sitting in Abuja.
Obi had through his team of lawyers led by Dr. Livy Uzoukwu, SAN, obtained a subpoena to compel the INEC chairman to appear before the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) sitting in Abuja.
He wanted the INEC boss to not only testify before the court as a witness but to equally produce and tender in evidence, some sensitive materials that were used for the conduct of the presidential election.
At the resumed proceedings in the petition, Obi and his party told the court that all efforts to serve a copy of the subpoena on the INEC Chairman failed.
While lamenting the inability of his client to effect service of the summon of Yakubu, Obi’s lead counsel, Uzoukwu, said: “My lords, I thought that by now, we would have been through with the stage of tendering of documents.”
However, irked by the allegation, the INEC, through its lawyer, Mr. Kemi Pinhero, SAN, accused Obi of always looking for who to blame for his
failure.
Pinhero, while addressing the court, said he was not privy to any discussion that Obi’s lead counsel had with any member of the commission’s legal team.
He said: “My lords should take note that it has become a habit for the Petitioners, that whenever they want to seek for an adjournment, they must look for someone to blame.
“I was not privy to any discussion they had with our team leader because all the discussions have been open to members of our group.
“My lords should equally note that all the avalanche of documents they have tendered so far, some of them were certified as far back as in March.
“Yet, every time, they keep complaining that INEC refused to release documents to them.
“The submission that INEC refused to give documents to them, with due respect to the learned counsel, is not true.
“If they want to ask for an adjournment, they should do so and not attempt to use the INEC as a weeping board.”
Following a no-objection stance by Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, who appeared for Tinubu, as well as by counsel for the APC, Mr. Afolabi Fashanu, SAN, the court adjourned further hearing on the matter till Thursday.