INEC Chairman, Yakubu rejects subpoena of Court for Obi’s case – LP legal team

Chigozie Ikpo, Abuja

The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the last election, Mr. Peter Obi has accused the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu of ignoring their invitation to appear before the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) sitting in Abuja to testify on his petition challenging the declaration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as president.

At Wednesday’s proceedings, Lead Counsel for the LP, Dr. Livy Uzoukwu (SAN) told the court that the INEC chairman has refused to accept the Subpoena of the Court served on him.

The INEC Chairman was expected to testify on the case as well as tender necessary documents as evidence in the ongoing petition.

Dr. Livy told the court that he informed the lead Counsel to INEC, A. B. Mahmood (SAN) about it, but unfortunately did not have a copy of the Subpoena and promised to send him a soft copy after the hearing.

He then asked for an adjournment as they intended to have the INEC Chairman appear before the court, but he was yet to acknowledge their Subpoena.

Responding, Kemi Pinheiro (SAN) representing INEC said it is untrue that the INEC Chairman is refusing the subpoena by the LP stating that he is unaware of the conversation with their lead counsel on the matter.

Pinheiro made reference to the PDP case, where he said Subpoenas were served on the commissioners and chairman and they did not reject it, wondering why they will reject that of the LP.
He then said he has no objection to the adjournment, but that Labour Party should not blame INEC for their issues.

In response, Dr. Livy, expressed displeasure on how he was addressed by Mr. Pinheiro, stating that the bailiff of the court told him that the office of the Chairman refused to sign the Subpoena adding that the information is subject to verification.

The presiding chairman of the panel ( Justice. Haruna Tsammani), addressed the lawyers who laughed at the exchange and also apologized to the LP lead counsel.

Earlier, the LP continued with their tendering of documents as Audu Anuga (SAN) tendered certified true copies (CTC) of INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV) reports from 7 states, including Benue, Niger, Edo, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Gombe, and Kaduna States.

The documents are the copies of result sheets, uploaded to the IReV portal by INEC, as official results for the 2023 General elections.

A breakdown of documents tendered are IREV reports downloaded and certified by INEC in respect to 21 LGAs in Benue, 25 LGAs in Niger, 17 LGAs in Edo, 20 LGAs in Bauchi, 8 LGAs in Bayelsa, 8 LGAs in Gombe and 21 LGAs in Kaduna states.

Also tendered are Blurred IREV reports downloaded and certified by INEC in respect to Bauchi, Bayelsa, and Kaduna states, but cannot be linked to any local government, and Supplementary IREV reports of 2 LGAs in Kaduna state.

Anuga also tendered Bimodal Voter Accreditation System reports and certificates of compliance from INEC in 28 states and the FCT.

Justice Tsammani admitted all the documents tendered as evidence and adjourned further hearing till tomorrow, June 15 by 9 am.

The Independent National Electoral Commission on Wednesday reacted to the statement by the legal team of the Labour Party and its candidate, Peter Obi suggesting that the commission has refused to respond to the subpoenas served on them.

The LP and Obi in a petition marked CA/PEC/03/2023 are challenging the outcome of the presidential election wherein Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress was declared the elected president by INEC.

During the proceedings, the petitioners had previously stated that the electoral commission had denied them access to some sensitive documents which are germane to their pleadings.

While moving the motion for adjournment of the hearing on Wednesday afternoon, counsel for the petitioners, Livy Uzoukwu SAN again complained to the Presidential Election Petition Court that despite the effort made to access documents under the commission, INEC has “consistently refused…the subpoena to produce documents.”

He further said that he had to draw the attention of the lead counsel for INEC, A.B Mahmoud who assured him that the commission would comply.

Displeased with the statement that implied that his client was uncooperative, counsel for INEC, Kemi Pinhero SAN who conducted Wednesday’s proceedings on behalf of the electoral body countered the assertion.

He accused the petitioners of constantly blaming them for withholding documents from them and urged them to desist from the “habit”.

He said, “Don’t use INEC as a whipping boy.”

He said he was unaware of any discussion Uzoukwu SAN may have had with their lead counsel, Mahmoud, to warrant the statement.

“It has become a habit for them to look for somebody to whip. I am not privy to any discussion he has had with A.B. Mahmoud.”

“It can’t be true that the receipt or the subpoena were refused.”

“It has become a habit for them to blame INEC or say that INEC has refused to release documents to them.

“It is not correct that the office of the chairman will refuse to respond to the subpoena. The chairman of INEC has no interest whatsoever. It is unfair to INEC.”

“If they have nothing else to do today, they should just say it.