The Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, have clashed with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the commission’s chairman’s alleged refusal to accept a subpoena.
The disagreement arose after LP’s lead counsel, Livy Uzoukwu (SAN), told the Presidential Election Petitions Court on Wednesday that Prof Mahmoud Yakubu had been evading service of subpoenas on him.
Uzoukwu expressed confidence that the INEC lawyers would accept the service and that the proceedings would resume on Thursday.
However, INEC counsel Kemi Pinheiro (SAN) objected to the submission, claiming that the chairman had already received a subpoena from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He claimed that the LP uses INEC to make excuses whenever an adjournment is sought.
However, the panel’s chairman, Justice Haruna Tsammani, warned the lawyers not to use aggressive language.
Meanwhile, LP has submitted additional IREV reports from local government areas in Niger, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Gombe, and Kaduna states, along with copies of blurred IREV downloads that did not identify any area.
Audu Anuga (SAN), counsel for LP, informed the panel that all of the documents had been certified by INEC.
Furthermore, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has subpoenaed a statistician, Samuel Oduntan, to tender analysis and breakdown of results from polling units and IREV.
Oduntan’s oath statement, as well as his statistician’s report and appendices, were also tendered by the PDP.
Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), counsel to INEC; Wole Olanipekun (SAN), counsel to President Bola Tinubu; and Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), counsel to the APC, all agreed to cross-examine the witness during Thursday’s hearing.