[BREAKING] Presidential Poll: Obi Reacts To Tribunal’s Rejection Of Server Inspection

Abuja – The Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the February 23, presidential election, Mr. Peter Obi, on Monday, described the stance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the request by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), legal team request to inspect its server “as outrageous and worrisome”.

Obi was reacting to the refusal of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal to allow the server inspection.

Obi said he has always respected the ruling of courts even where it’s not favourable but find it shocking and worrisome in this day and age that INEC who is supposed to be an independent umpire of an election will argue against subjecting itself to scrutiny 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 noted that with the development it would be difficult for INEC to convince any discerning mind that it set out to conduct a free and fair poll when it takes strange positions that clearly show otherwise to critical members of the public.
Obi said the situation is particularly more worrisome that it’s coming at a time most of the international bodies that monitored the election are giving it low mark.
The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal on Monday, dismissed an application the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, filed to be granted access to inspect the central server they said was used by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to transmit results of the February 23 presidential election.
The tribunal, in a unanimous decision by a five-member panel of Justices, said the request could not be granted since the issue of whether such central server existed or not, is already a subject of controversy in the substantive petition that is challenging President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election.

According to the panel, the fact that all the parties to the petition have joined issues on whether or not the said server was used for the collation and transmission of results of the election, granting the joint application by PDP and Atiku, would amount to delving into the main case.

The tribunal held that allowing the application would amount to prejudging of “fundamental issues already raised by the parties on the substantive matter”.