The Obi‑Datti Presidential Campaign Council announced on Tuesday that the lawyers representing Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi are making progress in inspecting electoral materials for the February 25 presidential poll. This development comes less than 24 hours after the LP legal team met with the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who pledged that the commission would grant them access to the materials.
The Monday meeting with the INEC chairman followed threats from the LP to launch a nationwide protest and to picket INEC offices over the alleged failure to provide the poll materials as ordered by the court. Dr. Livy Uzoukwu (SAN), head of the LP’s legal team, led a delegation of 60 lawyers to the meeting and urged INEC to make the poll materials available urgently, noting that the team was racing against the deadline to file a petition challenging the presidential election outcome. “We are here because we have not received any electoral stocks for inspection on behalf of our clients, and, as you all know, an election petition is time‑sensitive. We have 21 days to file a petition; of those, we probably have about 10 days left, and yet we have not received any documents,” Uzoukwu said.
When journalists asked what would happen if the documents were not provided as promised, the SAN warned that it would be “a national calamity.” She added that failure to release the documents would create the impression that INEC was deliberately obstructing the legal team. “Listening to the chairman’s assurances, we want to give him the benefit of the doubt that we will receive some documents today (Monday). At least if we get some today, it indicates that more will follow tomorrow and the next day, enabling us to file the petition,” she said.
On Tuesday, Obi‑Datti PCC spokesman Yunusa Tanko confirmed that the legal team had been granted access and had begun gathering relevant information from the supplied materials. “We are making progress. Regardless of how the case proceeds, we have started collecting documents from INEC that will help our case,” he said. Tanko warned that in Nigeria, falsehoods tend to be covered up with further lies, leading eventually to the truth emerging. “Isn’t it better to come out and say the truth so we can sleep well afterward?”
Regarding the duration of the inspection at the INEC office, Tanko explained that it would be a continuous exercise. “As the INEC chairman put it, ‘We will give you a schedule of how we want to conduct this process.’ It is not a one‑off thing, but he promised to give us all the support we need to prosecute our case.” He emphasized the importance of starting the investigation promptly, noting that additional supporting documents would arrive as the inquiry continued, ensuring the case meets court timelines. “We have already lost a lot of time obtaining the required documents. Ideally, we would gather information from state chapters to assess the full extent of the damage to the minds of the Nigerian people, especially the youth, who have been profoundly affected.”
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