Atiku vs Buhari: Peter Obi Reacts As Tribunal Rules On INEC Server

Peter Obi, the Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), in the February 23 Presidential election has reacted to Monday’s Presidential Election tribunal’s verdict on his party’s request to inspect servers used by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the election.

In his reaction, Mr. Obi described the commission’s behavior as unfortunate.

The Vice Presidential candidate in a statement after the judgment said he finds it disturbing that INEC would argue against subjecting itself to scrutiny.

Using a football analogy, he said, “when ordinary referees in a football match subject themselves to Video Assisted Referee, VAR, and even go further to visit it to enable them make more informed decisions”.

He added that the situation makes it more difficult for INEC to convince people particularly those in the opposition that it can conduct free and fair elections even as he recalled the low marks awarded by international bodies in their various final assessment of the 2019 presidential election.

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nigeria’s main opposition party and its Presidential candidate in the 2019 Presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, have said they will challenge the dismissal of their application to be granted access to inspect the central server of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at the Supreme Court.

Chris Uche (SAN), a senior member of the Atiku and PDP’s legal team, told Journalists after the tribunal ruling: “Somehow, at this stage, the court has ruled. But definitely, this is a matter we want to take higher to the Supreme Court to challenge this ruling because we strongly feel that section 151 of the Electoral Act entitles us to have access to these materials.”