The suspended Lamidi Apapa-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the Labour Party has expressed concerns that the Appeal Court may reject the party’s appeal due to what it has characterised as Peter Obi’s legal team’s feeble justification for failing to present convincing evidence to support their allegations in court.
The party’s embattled national publicity secretary, Abayomi Arabambi, voiced concern about the party’s inability to pay INEC’s fee of N1.5 million to obtain all the necessary documents from the Commission to pursue their petition against the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) and its presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, during a press conference in Abuja yesterday.
Leading counsel for Mr Obi, Mr Livy Uzoukwu, SAN, had complained about their difficulty to secure some electoral records from INEC in regard to the states of Rivers and Sokoto during proceedings on May 17, 2023.
However, INEC’s lead attorney, Mr Mahmud, SAN, called the court’s attention to Mr Uzoukwu’s letter, in which Mr Peter Obi and the Labour Party indicated their inability to pay the necessary fees to INEC in order for the commission to issue certified true copies of the relevant papers.
Mahmud further pointed out to the court that the Labour Party and Peter Obi’s attorneys left the meeting that was meant to identify pertinent papers, delaying the course of the proceedings.
In his reaction, Arabambi said: “Something happened at the election Tribunal yesterday, it is unfortunate that the lead lawyer, will write a letter to INEC that they do not have N1,500,000 to pay knowing fully well that the pre-hearing session will terminate on Sunday. That means if we fail to do the needful, our petition would be dismissed”
“Now, what were 13 SANs doing till April 17 when they were asked to meet INEC and collect all necessary documents only for their lead counsel to say I have just been able to get 30 per cent of the documents requested.
“The INEC-led counsel said they invited him on Friday, he said he was at a party… They asked him to come on Monday, but they did not show up, Tuesday, they did not show up, only for them to come to court on Wednesday, where Prof. Livy was asking the court for an extension
“The court has ruled yesterday, that they will not extend it, in line with the electoral Act, that it will only take 14 days. And they told them that the court will not sit on Saturday and Sunday. Today is Thursday. We have Friday and Saturday.
“If Peter Obi cannot afford N1.5 million, then something is happening.
“So how do we now work together, how do we get all these documents and so that we can now go to the hearing session because once we fail to cross the hurdle of the hearing session our petition will be dismissed.”