Tribunal rules Wednesday on Tinubu, APC’s request to inspect election materials

The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) has scheduled ruling for 2pm on Wednesday on the motions by the President-elect, Bola Tinubu and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) for leave to inspect materials used by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for last presidential election.

A three-member panel, presided over by Justice Joseph Ikyegh, chose the date and time after lawyers to Tinubu and APC – Akintola Makinde and Omosanya Popoola – moved the four ex-parte motions they filed.

Mr Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, on Friday obtained permission from the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja to access all sensitive materials used by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for the conduct of the presidential election on February 25.

The appellate court, which will sit as the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, also ordered the electoral body to grant access to the election materials to the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

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The orders were issued by an appellate court panel led by Justice Joseph Ikyegh after hearing two separate ex-parte applications filed by the two dissatisfied presidential candidates and their political parties.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Wednesday, declared Bola Tinubu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the presidential poll.

Tinubu secured 8,794,726 votes while Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had the second-highest figure with 6,984,52 and Obi polled 6,101,533 votes.

INEC, the acclaimed winner of the presidential election, Bola Tinubu, and his party, the All Progressives Congress, were named as respondents in the case.

Both applications were based on Section 146 (1) of the Electoral Act 2022, Section 47 (1, 2 & 3) of the First Schedule of the Electoral Act of 2022, and the Court’s inherent jurisdiction as referenced by Section 6 (6) A & B of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.