INEC Issues Strong Warning to Labour Party Against Blackmail Tactics

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has responded to the recent claims made by the Labour Party’s legal team and its candidate, Peter Obi, regarding the alleged refusal of INEC to comply with served subpoenas.

These claims were made in the context of a petition challenging the outcome of the presidential election, which declared Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress as the elected president.

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In the petition marked CA/PEC/03/2023, the petitioners had previously expressed their concerns about being denied access to essential documents relevant to their case.

However, during the proceedings on Wednesday, counsel for the petitioners, Livy Uzoukwu SAN, raised his disappointment that INEC had consistently refused to produce the requested documents in response to the subpoenas.

Responding to these allegations, Kemi Pinhero SAN, representing INEC during the proceedings, strongly disputed the claims and criticized the petitioners for their repeated accusations against the commission. Pinhero urged them to refrain from this “habit” and stated, “Don’t use INEC as a whipping boy.” He clarified that he was unaware of any discussion between Uzoukwu SAN and their lead counsel, A.B. Mahmoud, that would support the claim of non-compliance by INEC.

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Pinhero further defended INEC’s stance, emphasizing that they had not refused to respond to the subpoena or withheld any documents. He stated firmly, “It can’t be true that the receipt or the subpoena were refused. It is not correct that the office of the chairman will refuse to respond to the subpoena. The chairman of INEC has no interest whatsoever. It is unfair to INEC.”

Challenging the petitioners to provide evidence or substantiate their claims, Pinhero concluded, “If they have nothing else to do today, they should just say it.”

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