My People:
Please come with me as we review some legal lamentations by PDP and LP’s top lawyers at their ongoing presidential election petition tribunals
[LP/Obi Counsel] Dr. Uzoukwu is complaining to the judges that INEC is still refusing to give them all the documents they asked for.
“We are bringing this to your attention because we have done everything humanly possible. We now ask your lordship to come to our aid. This afternoon, we received a few copies of IREV reports of 3 LGA in Lagos State – Agege, Mushin, Oshodi, Isolo, Epe, Surulere, Etiosa.
“These documents were certified on the 29th of May but they withheld it until today. The same thing happened for Gombe state. They only gave us 2 LGA this afternoon. I personally delivered a letter to Mahmood SAN on May 20th, 2023 listing all the documents wanted.
“On March 2023, we wrote to INEC asking for these documents to enable us to give them proof of our petitions. We also served subpoenas to the President and Commander In Chief and it was rejected. They refused to come. A series of Subpoenas have been issued.
“We have nowhere to cry to but to your lordship and that is why we are doing this now. It appears that INEC is deliberately delaying us. We apply that a copy of the Subpoena be served to his clients (INEC) and let them bring the documents to us.”
Earlier in the proceedings, the petitioners lamented the difficulties encountered in getting Certified True Copies (CTC) of documents out of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in aid of their joint petition challenging Tinubu’s election.
At the resumed hearing of the petition, Counsel to Atiku and his party told the court that, getting materials from INEC is like getting weapons from an opponent.
I can imagine…..
Reading these updates, I am truly sorry for both PDP and LP petitioners. Imagine: A set period has been fixed for these petitions to be heard. INEC is listed as a defendant in all these petitions. Why would any ordinary human being expect INEC to be speedy to reveal documents that MIGHT be used against it? Who self-incriminates? If the plaintiffs bring forward independent certified documents, fine, but to expect defendant INEC to be fully compliant in all ramifications is a little bit rich.
The clock is ticking. These petitions are bound to fail.
At the end of the day, it is best to get elections right from the beginning. Even in developed democracies, they try extremely hard to avoid court litigations over elections, because of the perception of the possibility of smart argumentation by two people before a rogue judge upsetting the will of millions of people. That cannot be right.
I submit.
Bolaji Aluko
