Obi Seeks Permission to Question INEC over ICT Personnel Used

Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr Peter Obi, has requested from the Presidential Election Petition Court (PREPEC) permission to question the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) experts used during the conduct of the February 25 presidential election.

Obi’s request was presented by his lawyer, Mr Patrick Ikweto, SAN, during yesterday’s proceedings.
The petitioners had hinted the court of their pending applications during Monday’s proceedings but the court could not take it after the respondents claimed that they would object to the request within the time allowed them by law.

However, shortly after the end of cross examination of their second witness, Ikweto sought permission to move the two pending applications which specifically sought to know the quality of the ICT experts deployed by INEC for the presidential poll.
Specifically, the petitioners prayed the court for an order compelling INEC to supply them with the names and profiles of the ICT experts that participated in one way or another in the February 25 presidential election.

Besides, Obi and his party raised 12 questions to be forwarded to INEC for answers.
It is the position of the petitioners that INEC did not only breached its own regulations and guidelines for the conduct of the presidential election but manipulated the process so that the outcome provides a specific desired results.
But, the respondents however opposed to the granting of the request on the grounds that it was belated and that the court lacked necessary jurisdiction to entertain the applications.

According to INEC’s lawyer, Mr Kemi Pinhero, SAN, the applications were not only incompetent but amounts to a waste of the precious time of the PREPEC.
Similarly, Tinubu and APC represented by Chief Akin Olujimi, SAN and Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, in their individual submissions also opposed the granting of the two applications.

After listening to arguments of counsel representing parties, the Presiding Justice, Haruna Tsammani announced that ruling has been reserved to a later date.
Meanwhile, Obi and LP as part of further proving their case through documentary evidence also tendered the Form EC40G being summary of cancelled votes in the presidential election.

Hearing continues on today.