Obi may engage 12 SANs from a list of 20 to prove his case
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
At least 20 Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) are willing to take up the lawsuit the Labour Party (LP) filed against the presidential election result the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) announced on March 1.
Peter Obi, the LP presidential candidate, says he won the poll, not All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Bola Tinubu, and he would prove it in court.
Sources in the LP disclosed 12 of the lawyers may be chosen, drawn from different chambers, and have been furnished with materials that would be used as evidence in court.
The INEC announced Tinubu won 8,794,726 votes, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Atiku Abubakar (6,984,520), and Obi (6,101,533).
Both Atiku and Obi have rejected the result and approached the Court of Appeal for permission to inspect the election materials pursuant to their court arguments.
LP National Secretary Umar Farouk disclosed some SANs expressed their interest in joining the legal battle to prove Obi’s case.
He alleged the INEC lost its independence by colluding with the APC to award victory to Tinubu, saying the hope of the LP is in the judiciary to do the needful.
“We have more than 20 SANs that are willing to participate and offer their services for the renewal and emergence of a new Nigeria. As I am talking to you, our lawyers are working on it.
“But this is not something we can discuss on the pages of a newspaper. All I can tell you is that we have started ‘trekking’ to the court,” Farouk told The PUNCH.
Has the LP gathered concrete evidence other than what the APC said are isolated incidents the LP is dangling to get public sympathy? Farouk was asked.
“The court is not a polling box that they can smash and put in what they want,” he replied.
“If the APC thinks they can pre-empt the court, let them do it. They had earlier pre-empted the election that they were going to win by hook or crook and they had claimed they won. Let’s wait and see. Unlike INEC, the judiciary is a different thing.
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Masses waiting for judicial solace
“We have seen how independent the Commission is. But we need to also examine how independent the judiciary also is in a matter of this magnitude. Let’s see the solace it can offer the masses. Let’s see if the judiciary has also shattered the hope of Nigerians just as INEC did,” Farouk added, according to The PUNCH.
“We are saying Obi is the winner from the record we have before us. But INEC did something else. They hurriedly carried out the plan of their paymaster.
“Therefore we have every reason to claim victory if it is being denied.
“On the part of Atiku and the PDP, they have the right and data to claim that their mandate was stolen. The only arbiter now is the court.
“So many people can claim one thing. It is the judiciary that gives a verdict based on the evidence before it.”
An insider in the PDP, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also disclosed lawyers are studying the reports of the election.
“Why the hurry [in putting together a legal team]? Like his excellency, Atiku Abubakar, said yesterday [Thursday], our lawyers are studying the results to advise accordingly but definitely, the party is challenging the election. We can’t continue like this and expect to become a great nation.
“Some lawyers whose names I don’t want to reveal yet actually approached the party, offering pro bono services. They are angry like every other well-meaning Nigerian.
“These eggheads are currently reviewing the entire process, particularly the flagrant breach of the Electoral Act. This is all I can say for now.”
Tinubu camp confident of winning court case
APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) spokesman Festus Keyamo countered that Tinubu and his camp are not intimidated by the legal threat of the opposition.
He also confirmed the PCC legal directorate is engaging about 12 SANs to defend his principal in the alleged case of rigging and stolen mandate.
“The number of our advocates is around that figure [12]. But I can’t confirm the exact figures at the moment. However, it doesn’t matter the number of SANs the Labour Party is parading. It is not a competition,” Keyamo said.
“I am a lawyer and can tell you specifically that the numbers don’t matter. It is all about the quality of evidence. But I can tell you that we have enough to nullify more of their votes than theirs to nullify our own.”