Obi, LP fault INEC’s objection to petition against Tinubu

THIS DAY

Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), in the recent general election, Mr Peter Obi, has faulted the objection of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to its petition against the election of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as president.

Obi in his reply to the response of INEC to his petition at the Court of Appeal, Abuja, observed that the action of the electoral umpire was not only unwarranted but an embarrassment to the country.

According to the petition, INEC in line with global best practice for electoral umpires in national elections ought to “avoid creating the impression that it has no respect for neutrality in an electoral contest between candidates”.

Obi and his party, who are joint petitioners recalled several judgments which had repeatedly admonished INEC of its need to remain neutral in election proceedings. 

“However, the I st Respondent hereof, has remained impervious to change. Therefore, it is not only an embarrassment but a repudiation of the duty of the I st Respondent when it adorns the garb of a contestant in an election it conducted as an umpire to raise preliminary objection against an Election Petition…