Tribunal: INEC Denies Deducting 2.5 Million Votes from Peter Obi’s Score.
Dismissing the claims as “false and misleading,” INEC said that it had not deducted any votes from any candidate and maintained that the election results were accurate.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has refuted allegations of deducting 2.5 million votes from the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, as claimed by him and his party. INEC made this denial during its final submission at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, where Obi and his party challenged the outcome of the 2023 presidential election declared by the commission.
Peter Obi, representing the Labour Party, had raised concerns before the tribunal, stating that certain polling units’ results indicated a total of 2,565,269 votes were not reflected in his score. Additionally, he alleged non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2022.
In response, INEC’s lead counsel, A. B. Mahmoud (SAN), argued in the final written address dated July 14 that Obi failed to provide credible evidence to support his claims. The commission urged the court to dismiss the petition, emphasizing that Obi’s witness did not present the polling unit results used to draft the report, thus raising doubts about the alleged deduction.
The senior advocate contended that INEC had conducted the election in full accordance with the law, urging the tribunal to dismiss Obi and his party’s claim.
Furthermore, the All Progressive Congress (APC) maintained that both the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party failed to present enough evidence to substantiate their claims of President Bola Tinubu’s victory being rigged.
Counsel to the APC, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), argued that the evidence presented by Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar against President Tinubu was insufficient to defend their claims. Fagbemi alleged that the petitioners only dumped documents before the court, which he deemed inadequate to support their allegations.
The election petition tribunal is now tasked with considering all the arguments and evidence presented by the parties involved before reaching a decision.
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INEC Denies Deducting 2.5 Million Votes from Peter Obi’s Score.
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