Peter Obi’s Lawyers Finally Begin Inspection of 2023 Presidential Election Materials

The lawyers representing Peter Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), have commenced the long-awaited inspection of the materials used for the Saturday, February 25 presidential and National Assembly election.

Daily Trust reports that the inspection of the materials by Obi’s lawyers began hours after the legal practitioners met with officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), including the commission’s chairman.

On Monday, March 13, the lawyers were given access to materials used for the presidential and NASS election by INEC at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.

In its ruling, the Court of Appeal had granted a request by LP, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s flagbearer and the president-elect to inspect the election materials.

Also, the parties, in a report submitted to INEC, confirmed that the legal team of LP commenced its inspection on Monday, March 13. The lawyer representing Obi and the Labour Party, Livy Uzochukwu, said the party and the PDP petitioned, while APC was responding. Uzochukwu noted that the petitions’ timelines differed, and the petitioners should be treated with priority.

In his reaction, the PDP lawyer, Joe-Kyari Gadzama confirmed that while limiting the number of people allowed to inspect the materials was not realistic, the PDP and the LP had more challenges in common than the APC and its candidate.

Gadzama also requested that a message be sent to the INEC in various states to allow inspection. The parties involved, including INEC, further agreed that the PDP and the APC begin their inspection immediately, while the LP team, which had started their inspection, would continue from where they left off.