Peter Obi vs INEC, Tinubu, Shettima and APC: Presidential Election Petition Tribunal - (Part Four)

PART FOUR (SIMPLIFIED) 

PETER OBI & LP VS INEC, APC, BOLA TINUBU & KASHIM SHETTIMA

Obi’s petition paragraph 7 reads: LP is a body corporate with perpetual succession and in the sponsorship of Peter Obi and the conduct of the election thereof, acting through its members duly appointed as agents at all stages of the election, namely, at the Polling Units, the Ward Collation Centers, the LG Collation Centers, the State Collation Centers and at the ultimate collation center at the Federal Level in Abuja.

INEC’s response: All political parties intending to sponsor candidates in the election were required to submit lists of their agents to INEC. The guidelines issued by INEC require all political parties to submit the list of their agents between the 21st of December 2022 and the 20th of January 2023 via an online portal. Some of the political party agents whose names were on the list submitted to INEC were absent at their polling units while some others who were present neglected to participate in the election process.

APC’s response: We admit only to the extent that LP is a body corporate with perpetual succession. Also, LP & Peter Obi did not appoint agents at all the stages of the election, be it at the polling units, ward collation centers, local government collation centers, and state collation centers. 

Tinubu & Shettima’s response: In the history of electoral democracy in Nigeria prior to 2023, LP has only ever won 1 governorship seat in Nigeria. In 2023, LP was only able to win 1 governorship seat in Abia state. (Repeats the same statement as INEC & APC), that LP & Peter Obi did not appoint agents at majority or in all the polling units across the FRN.