Tribunal Judgement: Peter Obi Warns Of Vanishing Electoral Jurisprudence,  Heads To Supreme Court

Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, has vowed to appeal the judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, that upheld the election of President Bola Tinubu.

Obi, whose petition was dismissed by the court, warned that if care is not taken, sound electoral jurisprudence will disappear in the country.

He stressed that litigants who are dissatisfied with the outcome of an election may resort to self-help, if they continue to find it very difficult to establish their case owing to obstacles from government institutions like the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

Speaking through his team of lawyers led by Dr. Livy Uzoukwu, SAN, Obi said: “If we are not careful, our electoral jurisprudence will eventually disappear. I am saying this with every amount of sincerity because when the litigant, when those who contested the election continue to find it very difficult to establish their case due to obstacles on the way, starting with INEC, certainly they may resort to some other means of trying to get justice, which may not be lawful.”

“Also, I commend the Court of Appeal for introducing live streaming. You may recall that we applied to the court to have live streaming of all the proceedings, but the court, in its wisdom did not grant the application.

“But now, in the end, they saw the wisdom in it and the need to guarantee transparency, hence, live streaming of the judgment.

“Certainly, it would have been better if it was live streaming of the entire proceedings so that the public will have the chance of watching and be able to relate properly with the judgment.”

“So, I will hope and pray that this time, it will be continuous, starting from the beginning of a case. That is the only way that you can guarantee transparency because when something is open, Nigerians will see things for themselves and they will make up their minds, one way or the other,” he added.