Amid objections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Presidential Election Petitions Court sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, admitted in evidence, results sheets from more states in the petition by the Labour Party (LP)’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi seeking to upturn President Bola Tinubu’s victory in the February 25 presidential election.
Obi, who was in court to witness proceedings, came third in the election behind the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar who is equally challenging Tinubu’s victory.
At the resumed hearing of the petitions on Wednesday, the counsel representing the PDP expressed concerns over INEC’s objection to the admissibility of documents the petitioners sought to tender.
Obi and his party presented result sheets from more states. But the presentation of result sheets was met with stiff opposition as counsels for INEC, Tinubu and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) raised objections to the admissibility of the results.
The lawyers informed the court that they will present the reason for their objection when adopting their final written addresses.
In a similar suit, INEC and other respondents objected to the admissibility of documents presented by the PDP.
The party’s attempt to call some witnesses was equally resisted as the respondents asked for time to study the statements of the witnesses for the purposes of cross-examination.
Having admitted the documents despite the objections, the lawyer to Labour Party remained optimistic as he announced plans to present more documents at the next adjourned date.
On his part, the counsel for the PDP expressed concerns over INEC’s position on its documents.
After admitting the documents in evidence, the court presided over by Justice Haruna Tsammani adjourned further hearing to June 8, 2023.