Mr. Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the February 25 election, has requested the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) to allow him to question the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Information and Communication Technology (ICT) expert.
Presenting two separate motions on behalf of Obi, Mr. Patrick Ikweto, SAN, sought to ascertain the proficiency of the ICT experts employed for the technological aspects of the election.
Obi and his party urged the court to compel INEC to provide them with the names and profiles of the ICT personnel responsible for handling the technological aspects of the election.
They presented 12 questions to be directed to the electoral body, aiming to obtain answers that would support their allegations of misconduct, particularly regarding malpractices, during the election.
Obi argued that if granted, this request would assist him in effectively presenting his petition, which challenges the declaration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the winner of the election.
However, INEC, represented by Mr. Kemi Pinhero, SAN, opposed Obi’s attempt to subject their client to interrogation, deeming the applications incompetent.
Pinhero contended that Obi’s applications were untimely as they were filed outside the timeframe permitted by law.
Specifically, he argued that such an application should have been presented and debated during the pre-hearing session, asserting that bringing the application after the pre-hearing session had stripped the court of jurisdiction to hear it.
He insisted that the application must fail as it would be a waste of time, emphasizing the need to preserve the court’s valuable time.
President Tinubu, represented by Chief Akin Olujimi, SAN, and the All Progressives Congress (APC), represented by Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, also opposed the granting of the request, asserting that the application is fundamentally flawed in light of the law.
The presiding justice, Haruna Tsammani, reserved the ruling on the applications and scheduled further hearings in the petition for June 9.
