Peter Obi comes hard on INEC for seeking dismissal of suit challenging Tinubu’s victory
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of being partial.
The LP candidate was replying a preliminary objection filed by INEC at the Tribunal which appeared to be in support of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), now the President-Elect, Bola Tinubu.
In the case before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, Obi faulted the electoral body for standing by Tinubu.
He noted that both the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal had in the past, cautioned INEC to place itself in a place of neutrality, remain fair and focused.
The Labour Party’s presidential candidate also stated that it is not only an embarrassment but a repudiation of the duty of INEC, when it adorned the garb of a contestant in an election it conducted as an umpire to raise preliminary objection against an election petition.
Obi added that he expected the electoral body to maintain a neutral stand in all litigations where participants in elections are challenging the outcome of the elections and not indulge in filling objections to the petition.
He also described as misconceived INEC’s preliminary objection against the petition he lodged against the declaration of Tinubu as winner of the presidential election.
“The first respondent, forgetting its role as an electoral umpire, gave a Notice of Preliminary Objection to challenge the alleged incompetence of the petition.
“The global best practice for electoral umpires in national elections is that an electoral body must avoid creating the impression that it has no respect for neutrality in an electoral contest between candidates.
“The appellate courts have repeatedly admonished the first respondent of its need to remain neutral in election proceedings. However, the first respondent, hereof, has remained impervious to change.
“Therefore, it is not only an embarrassment but a repudiation of the duty of the first respondent when it adorns the garb of a contestant in an election it conducted as an umpire to raise preliminary objection against an election petition as in the case hereof.”
