The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPC) sitting in Abuja has adjourned the pre-hearing of the petition filed by the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, against President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Recall that Obi is challenging the victory of Tinubu in the February 25, 2023 election as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The tribunal, headed by Justice Haruna Tsammani, adjourned the date to Friday, May 19, due to the failure of parties to agree on documents, among other reasons.
READ MORE: Drama In Court As LP Factions Clash Over Seats (Video)
It would be recalled that during the sitting on Wednesday, the legal team of the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi led by Livy Uzoukwu accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of failing to provide what they need to prosecute their case.
The legal team told the court at the resumed hearing of the 2023 presidential election tribunal in Abuja that INEC refused to give them 70% of the evidence which they are required to give by law.
The team said specifically in Rivers State, they were not given anything.
However, counsel for INEC, Abubakar Mahmoud, disagreed with the allegations.
He argued that the Labour Party team did not show up for the meeting as agreed, and walked out of the rescheduled meeting.
The INEC lawyer added that the documents for Rivers and Sokoto states, where indeed provided, but the Labour Party refused to pay the sum of 1.5million naira for Sokoto State, and the Form EC8A for Rivers State, have not been given to them.
He said some documents were given to the party, but they refused to collect them until it was complete.
Meanwhile in another development, during the day’s proceedings on Wednesday, the Labour Party’s factional leaders clashed over seats at the presidential election petition court. The altercation occurred when the party’s acting national chairman, Lamidi Apapa, confronted Akin Osuntokun, director-general of Peter Obi’s presidential campaign council, upon the former’s arrival in the courtroom.
Apapa claimed that, as the rightful head of the Labour Party, he belonged in the plaintiffs’ gallery.
