Truth in presidential election fraud coming out with inspection of election materials
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Lawyers of Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi are making progress in their inspection of election materials used for the presidential vote, and the truth in the false result declared will soon be exposed, says LP Presidential Campaign Council (PCC).
The PCC expressed the confidence after the LP legal team met with Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Mahmood Yakubu, who promised the Commission would give the legal team access to the election materials.
The meeting on Monday came after the LP issued threats to embark on a nationwide protest and picket INEC offices over its failure to grant LP access to election materials as ordered by the Presidential Election Tribunal in the Court of Appeal.
LP legal team head Livy Uzoukwu, SAN led 60 lawyers to the meeting with Yakubu where he urged the INEC to urgently provide the materials as the team is running against the March 21 deadline to file its petition.
“We are here because we have not received any electoral stocks for inspection on behalf of our clients, and as you all know, election petition is time-sensitive.
“We have 21 days to file a petition on behalf of our clients. Out of that 21 days, we probably have about 10 days to go and up but till now, we have not received any documents,” Uzoukwu said.
What will happen if the INEC fails to provide the documents as promised? journalists asked.
“That will be a national calamity,” Uzoukwu warned.
““Not making the documents available will create the impression that INEC is deliberately frustrating us. But listening to the chairman and all assurances, I want to give him or we want to give him the benefit of the doubt that we will get some of them today [Monday].
“At least if we get some of them today, that is indicative that we will get some other documents from tomorrow, and next tomorrow to enable us file this petition.”
__________________________________________________________________
Related articles:
BREAKING: No going back on claiming my mandate, Obi vows
BREAKING: Manipulations during 2023 polls unprecedented – Atiku
Atiku confident court will upturn Tinubu’s ‘rigged’ victory
________________________________________________________________
Making progress
LP PCC spokesman Yunusa Tanko told The PUNCH the legal team had been granted access to the election materials by Tuesday and is gathering information from them.
His words: “Of course, we are having some level of progress. No matter how the case may be, at least, we have started collecting some documents from INEC, which will help our case.
“The situation of Nigeria is such that if anybody lies, he will look for another lie to cover it tomorrow. By the third day, he must get another to defend himself.
“In the process of looking for falsehood to cover up, you will make mistake and the truth will come out. It is a clear-cut decision. Isn’t it then better to come out and say the truth in order to sleep well after that?”
Tanko disclosed the inspection at the INEC office will be a continuous exercise.
“If I can use the words of the INEC chairman, he said ‘We will give you a schedule of how we want to completely conduct this particular process.’
“It is not a one-off thing. But he promised that he will give us all the support we require for us to prosecute our case. That was exactly his words that I just used.
“At this particular point, the most important thing is for us to start with something. Other supporting documents can be coming in as we continue to conduct our investigation so that we don’t miss the timeline of having the case in court in the first place.
“Already, we have lost a lot of time as regards the issue of getting the documents that we required. Ordinarily, we ought to go and get all the information from the state chapters to know exactly the quantum of damage done to the minds of the Nigerian people. In truth, they have destroyed the minds of Nigerian youths.”
.){kind=link}