The Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja abruptly adjourned the hearing on Tuesday in the petition of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar challenging the election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The court alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had refused to provide him with some crucial electoral materials.
The Court postponed further proceedings on the appeal till June 7 in anticipation of the electoral body’s expected response to Atiku and the People’s Democratic Party PDP’s request to provide documents.
Eyitayo Jegede, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) who presided over the proceedings on Tuesday on behalf of Atiku, requested to offer forms EC8A from 10 of Kogi State’s 21 Local Government Areas to establish the suit against Tinubu.
The exhibits, mainly documents used for the February 25 Presidential Election, were sought to be tendered by the PDP presidential candidate from Ankpa, Dekina, Idah, Ofu, Olamaboro, Yagba East, Yagba West, Kabba-Bunu, Igalamela Odolu, and Kogi.
Although the schedule of documents to the effect was filed along with the exhibits, the Court, however, noted that tendering such sensitive exhibits in piece meals would not be of any help, especially in the areas of marking and numbering them.
Jegede who rose to the questions put to him by the Court stood his grounds and blamed the INEC for deliberate refusal to supply his client with the vital documents.
The Senior lawyer hinted to the Court that Atiku had paid as much as N6M for the supply of certified true copies of the exhibits and lamented that the electoral body had not been forthcoming and cooperating as required and envisaged.
Jegede said that to avoid a crisis, the former vice president’s legal team had to issue a subpoena to INEC’s top officials, forcing them to present the necessary paperwork before the court.
But in the end, the senior attorney asked for a 24-hour postponement to contact the electoral board and take the appropriate action.
Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani postponed the case till June 7 after hearing no objections from the respondents’ attorneys, including INEC’s Abubakar Mahmud SAN, Tinubu’s Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN, and the All Progressives Congress APC’s Lateef Fagbemi SAN.
