The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) deployed sensitive materials for the conduct of the presidential election held on February 25, and the Labour Party (LP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidates, Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar, respectively, requested access to all of these materials. The Court of Appeal Abuja has granted their requests.
After the hearing of two distinct ex parte motions that the two presidential candidates and their political parties filed together, an appellate court panel chaired by Justice Joseph Ikyegh issued the rulings.
Bola Tinubu, the president-elect, and the All Progressives Congress were named as respondents in the case.
Both requests were supported by Section 146(1) of the Electoral Act 2022, Paragraphs 47(1), (2), and (3) of the First Schedule of the Electoral Act of 2022, as well as the court’s inherent authority as referred to in Sections 6(6)(a) and (b) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
READ ALSO: Six States Petition Supreme Court To Cancel Presidential Election
Although Obi asked the tribunal for six main reliefs in his motion, which was brought by Alex Ejesieme, Atiku’s solicitor, Adedamola Faloku, asked the tribunal for seven prayers.
The applicants specifically sought the court to order INEC to let them receive records that were in its possession and utilised for the presidential election. They insisted that the requested records would support their appeal challenging the declaration of the winner of the presidential election.
Recall that after receiving 8,794,726 votes overall, Tinubu of the APC was proclaimed the winner of the presidential election by INEC, defeating 17 other candidates. Nevertheless, the PDP and LP disputed the election results and pledged to battle APC in court.
