There was an altercation between the Labour Party and INEC at the Presidential Election Petitions Court on Wednesday following claims made by Peter Obi’s lead counsel Livy Uzoukwu that the INEC chairman was dodging the service of subpoena issued by the court for him to produce certain documents
This happened after the Labour Party had tendered some I-Rev reports and results from about 7 States and their local government areas.
The Labour Party and Peter Obi then told the court that they had wished to conclude tendering of documents but that they are constrained by the refusal of the INEC chairman to receive the subpoena directing him to produce critical documents which they need to submit as part of the trial.
He sought for an adjournment to enable him resolve the issue with the lead counsel for INEC, Abubakar Mahmoud, who, according to him, had promised to assist.
But Kemi Pinheiro, who led the INEC legal team for the days’ proceedings in the Labour Party case, disputed the claim and took a slight dig at the petitioners, saying they are always seeking for excuses to ask for adjournments.
According to him, similar subpoenas were served on the INEC chairman by the PDP and it was received without any report of evasion of service.
Pinheiro, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria said it had become a signature tactic of making INEC the “whipping boy” over the Labour Party’s inability to follow through with their case, reminding that the petitioners have only called 2 out of the 50 witnesses they had proposed to call, with barely over a week left for them to close their case.
This led to a sharp retort by Obi’s lawyer who took offence with Pinheiro, saying his use of language was unfair to him.
It took the intervention of Presiding Justice Haruna Tsammani to calm the situation, urging the senior lawyers to show respect to the court as they have always been hitting out at each other.
Obi’s case was subsequently adjourned till Thursday 15th June for continuation.
Editor: Paul Akhagbemhe
