PEPT: Peter Obi’s counsel flays govt. obstruction, warns litigants may resort to self-help

Dr. Livy Uzoukwu SAN, the counsel of the Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, has flayed obstructions of government institutions to litigants in search of evidence to prove their cases and warned of dire consequences if unchecked.

Rejecting the judgement of the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) that upheld the election of President Bola Tinubu, Uzoukwu vowed to go on appeal.

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He warned after Wednesday’s judgment that dissatisfied litigants, who were frustrated by government institutions, such as the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to get evidence to prove their case might resort to self-help if the negative tendencies continue.

“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,” the senior counsel said.

“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.

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

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

“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.”