LP Presents Over 18,000 Blurred PU Result Sheets, INEC Claims Ambush, in Court

As a fourth witness for the petitioners, Eric Ofoedu, a professor of mathematics at Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka, presented the papers.

The Labour Party (LP) and Mr. Peter Obi, its presidential candidate, have continued to pursue their case before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) in Abuja by submitting 18,088, blurred polling unit result sheets among other documents.

The petitioners’ legal representative, Onyechi Ikpeazu, submitted the papers via their fourth witness, Eric Ofoedu, a professor of mathematics at Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka.

The petitioners also submitted a report detailing the witness’ analysis of some election-related materials, a copy of a letter from the LP dated February 20, 2023, requesting Professor Ofoedu’s assistance in analyzing data related to the presidential election on February 25, and a subpoena requiring him to appear in court and present the aforementioned documents.

Abubakar Mahmoud, counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Wole Olanipekun, and Lateef Fagbemi, on behalf of the All Progressives Congress (APC), objected to the tendering of the majority of the documents and promised to provide justifications at the end of their written addresses.

The respondents’ attorneys complained that they should have been served with Professor Ofoedu’s written statement much earlier so that they could prepare for cross examination. Instead, the petitioners only served the respondents with it a few minutes before the court.

The petitioners also called a fifth witness (PW5), Lumnie Edevbie, another witness who had been subpoenaed from a private television station. Edevbie offered a flash drive that was loaded with a video of a speech made by INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu at the Chatham House in London.

An overview of the proceedings at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, as reported by the Labour Party, is provided below.