The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi has lashed out at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) accusing them of being partial.
The LP candidate was responding to a preliminary objection filed by INEC at the Tribunal which appeared to be in support of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), now the President-Elect, Bola Tinubu.
In the case before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, Obi knocked the electoral body for standing by Tinubu.
He pointed out that both the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal had in the past, cautioned INEC to place itself in a place of neutrality, and remain fair and focused.
The Labour Party’s presidential candidate also stated that it is not only an embarrassment but a repudiation of the duty of INEC, when it adorned the garb of a contestant in an election it conducted as an umpire to raise preliminary objection against an election petition.
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Obi added that he expected the electoral body to maintain a neutral stand in all litigations where participants in elections are challenging the outcome of the elections and not indulge in filling objections to the petition.
He also described as misconceived INEC’s preliminary objection against the petition he lodged against the declaration of Tinubu as winner of the presidential election.
In a related development, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has said that he has been able to run for the office of the President of Nigeria since 1993 without any controversy because he is free from drugs and identity scandals, unlike Tinubu.
Reacting to Tinubu’s response in which he described Atiku as a serial election loser, the former Vice President said that Tinubu is a giant in forfeiture, drug-related offences and failure to disclose dual nationality to INEC.
This were contained in Atiku’s response to Tinubu’s and All Progressives Congress (APC) reply to his petition challenging the process and the outcome of the February 25 presidential election.
Besides, Atiku said that his identity, comprising age, State of Origin and educational qualifications have never been in dispute like those of Tinubu.