Mr. Kenneth Okonkwo of the Labour Party, LP, has criticized INEC for delaying their defense of the presidential election petition tribunal until Tuesday.
Okonkwo suggested a “technical glitch” on the part of the election commission was to blame for the disappearance of its witnesses in a tweet.
According to the Infostride News, INEC’s defense of the presidential election on February 25 got off to a rough start on Monday due to the absence of INEC witnesses.
Abubakar Balarabe Mahmood, SAN, the commission’s lead counsel, told the court he would be calling three witnesses to refute the charges made by LP and its Presidential candidate, Peter Gregory Obi.
He requested a postponement of his defense and expressed regret that none of the witnesses could attend due to family obligations.
After that, the judge postponed further proceedings until July 4.
Okonkwo, however, said that INEC’s failure to launch its defense was a waste of petroleum, the price of which he claimed the governing All Progressives Congress, APC, government had artificially driven up so that ordinary Nigerians could no longer afford it.
He penned, “INEC was supposed to present their case today (sic) before the Presidential Election Petition Court. They said their witness let them down, so they were unable to present any evidence. Even in their own instance, must INEC continue to have a “technical glitch”? What a waste of petroleum, the price of which the current APC government in Nigeria has made unaffordable for the majority of Nigerians. The hearing on the petition has been postponed to Thursday, July 4, 2023.
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