The lawyers representing Peter Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), have commenced the long-awaited inspection of the materials used for the Saturday, February 25 presidential and National Assembly election.
According to the Daily Trust, Obi’s lawyers began inspecting the materials hours after meeting with officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), including the commission’s chairman.
The lawyers were granted access to materials used for the presidential and NASS elections by INEC on Monday, March 13 at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.
The Court of Appeal granted LP, the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) flagbearer and president-elect, a request to inspect the election materials in its ruling.
In addition, the parties confirmed in a report submitted to INEC that the legal team of LP began its inspection on Monday, March 13.
Livy Uzochukwu, the lawyer representing Obi and the Labour Party, stated that the party and the PDP petitioned, while the APC responded.
Uzochukwu noted that the petitions’ timelines differed, and that the petitioners should be given priority treatment.
In his response, PDP lawyer Joe-Kyari Gadzama confirmed that, while limiting the number of people permitted to inspect the materials was unrealistic, the PDP and the LP faced more challenges than the APC and its candidate.
Gadzama also requested that a message be sent to INEC offices across the country to allow for inspection.
The parties involved, including INEC, also agreed that the PDP and APC would begin their inspection immediately, while the LP team, which had already begun their inspection, would pick up where they had left off.
Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate for 2023, has expressed surprise that he did not receive 100% of the vote in his home state of Anambra.
Obi also denied rigging elections in some parts of Nigeria’s southeast during the 2023 presidential election.
According to the former governor, he also won in Aso Rock, the seat of power, where he lacked influence and machinery.