Stop Sending Junior Lawyers to Process Poll Documents, INEC Tells Senior Lawyers

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has urged
senior lawyers engaged in the election petition process to stop
sending junior lawyers to the headquarters of the commission to
collect or process documents as regards election tribunal.

The INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Voter Education and
Publicity, Mr. Festus Okoye, made the call on Monday while
presenting a Certificate of Return to Hon. Emeka Nwajiuba, the
House of Representatives member-elect representing Okigwe South
Federal constituency (Ehime, Mbano/Ihitte, Uboma/Obowo).

He said that INEC is irrevocably committed to obeying court
orders and court judgments, adding that as far as the commission is
concerned, it is the duty and responsibility of courts to
adjudicate on matters and whenever the certified true copy of the
judgment of court is served on INEC, the commission would obey and
enforce all court judgments.

Okoye stated: “We are now in the election petition process and
in almost all the election petitions, the commission is joined as a
respondent. We want to appeal to senior lawyers who are
representing both the petitioners and respondents to be circumspect
especially with issues concerning their dealings with INEC.

“The headquarters does not warehouse ballot papers and other
election materials. Election materials are warehoused either in the
various local government or at various offices of the
commission.

“So, what happens is that when parties who are in the election
petition process apply to the court for the inspection of the
materials or for the photocopy of materials, those court orders are
served on us. It is now the responsibility of the commission to
direct the appropriate local government or appropriate state to
release those document to the lawyers who are engaged in the
election petition process.

“Sometimes, senior lawyers send junior lawyers who know next to
nothing about election petition to the commission and they drop
letters in the national headquarters here and ask for document that
are ordinarily are not supposed to be here and when we don’t give
them those document they just work across the gate and address a
press conference, claiming that the commission has refused to obey
court order.

“I believe that senior lawyers should be very careful in the way
they make some comments, and when they are sending people to
collect documents or process documents, they should send lawyers
who understand election petition process and how the system
works.”

The commission however assured Nigerians that it was committed
to giving all the political parties that are in the election
petition process whatever document they want.

The commission appealed to the political parties and the lawyers
engaged in the election petition process to show leadership and
courage when dealing with issues around whether the commission has
obeyed a particular court order or whether the commission has not
obeyed court order.

He said: “Having said that, I want to present this certificate
on behalf of the commission to Hon. Emeka Nwajiuba, the House of
Representatives member-elect representing Okigwe South Federal
constituency on the platform of the Accord Party.”

Responding, Nwajiuba commended the electoral body and the
judiciary for retrieving his mandate.

He added that though the election was conducted on February 23,
with a rerun on the March 9 and final collation on March 23, it has
taken this long for him to collect his certificate of return due to
an earlier mistake by INEC in giving the certificate of return to a
person who was adjudged by law as not being a candidate in the 2019
general election.

Nwajiuba, who contested the election on the platform of Acord
Party (AP), thanked the party for its support during the
election.

A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court Kubwa, Abuja had
ruled that the All Progressives Congress (APC) did not conduct
party primary for the constituency, saying the primary that
produced Chika Okafor was conducted by the defunct Imo APC
coalition splinter group which was not the INEC recognised APC
primaries.

The judgment delivered by Hon. Justice Kawu Bello, barred INEC
from recognising Okafor but still went ahead to contest the
election.

However, a member of the APC approached the court and the court
declared the second runner up (Nwajiuba) as the winner of the
election.

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