Court Grants PDP, NNPP Candidates Access To Inspect Election Materials

Candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Garba Dahiru and Mijinyawa Mohammed respectively have been granted access to inspect sensitive materials used by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the presidential and national assembly elections.

Naija News gathered that the Governorship, National, and State House of Assembly Election Tribunal, sitting in Bauchi, on Saturday, granted leave to both candidates.

While Dahiru contested for the Bauchi South Senatorial District on the PDP platform and lost to his All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart, Shehu Umar, Mohammed contested on the platform of NNPP for the Bauchi North senatorial district at the polls.

A three-member panel, led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, gave the order in Bauchi, following an ex-parte application filed by the PDP candidate and his party.

Those involved in the matter as learned are Umar, the PDP as well as INEC.

Umar’s lead counsel, Alex Hassan, had prayed to the court to compel INEC to allow his client to obtain documents in the commission’s custody used for the election.

He said the documents would aid his petition against the emergence of APC’s Umar as the winner of the election.

Justice Kpochi in his judgement said that the application had merit and was granted accordingly, therefore ordering INEC to make available all the election materials used for the conduct of the Bauchi south senatorial district election to the applicant, his agents, and counsel.

Kpochi noted, “The petitioners are to take certified copies and conduct a manual and physical inspection of all the electoral materials used in the conduct of the Bauchi South Senatorial District election held on February 25, 2023.”

The tribunal also granted leave to Mohammed, to access election materials deployed by INEC for the Bauchi North senatorial district election.

Mohammed through his counsel, Yaldami Gambo, said the order would enable him and his party to inspect all the election materials used by the electoral umpire in preparing their petition.

While granting the order, Justice Wilfred Kpochi said that the application has merit, and INEC was similarly the only one in the matter.

He, therefore, granted leave to the petitioner and his counsel to approach INEC and take certified copies of the election materials used in the Feb. 25 Bauchi North senatorial district election.