The Peoples Democratic Party and its presidential candidate in the last election Abubakar Atiku on Tuesday complained to the Presidential Election Petition Court that the Independent National Electoral Commission refused to provide them with some documents which they requested.
This the party and Atiku told the court during the hearing of their petitions challenging the presidential election wherein Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress emerged as the winner.
The petitioners informed the court that though he has paid over N6 million for the certification of exhibits in evidence before the court, the Commission had yet to make the requested materials available to him
The respondents in the petition marked CA/PEPC/05/2023 are Independent National Electoral Commission, Tinubu and the APC.
At Tuesday’s proceedings, counsel for Atiku, Eyitayo Jegede SAN sought to tender forms EC8A from 10 out of 21 Local Government Areas of Kogi State to establish the petition against Tinubu.
The exhibits, mainly documents used for the February 25 Presidential Election, were from Ankpa, Dekina, Idah, Ofu, Olamaboro, Yagba East, Yagba West, Kabba-Bunu and Igalamela Odolu.
Although the schedule of documents was filed along with the exhibits, the court declared that presenting such sensitive exhibits at piece meals would not be of any help, especially in the areas of marking and numbering them.
Jegede, however, blamed the electoral body for deliberate refusal to supply his client with the vital documents.
He lamented that the electoral body had not been forthcoming and cooperating as they are supposed to be.
Jegede further stated that to salvage the situation, Atiku’s legal team had to subpoena top officials of INEC to compel them to bring the required documents before the Court on their own.
As a result of the limitations caused by the situation, the senior advocate sought a 24-hour adjournment to enable him to approach the electoral body to do the needful.
Following no objections from counsel to the respondents, the presiding justice of the five-man panel, Justice Tsammani adjourned the matter to June 7.
