Updated: Presidential poll: Tribunal orders INEC boss to appear before it today

…As Yakubu, Zamfara REC fails to produce election documents

Andrew Orolua, Abuja

The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal has directed the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu and the Zamfara State’s Resident Electoral Commissioner to produce before the tribunal certain documents relating to the February 23, 2019 presidential election by 12 noon today.

Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Mohammed Garba, gave the order on Wednesday at the resumed hearing of the petition filed by Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The order came after the petitioner’s lead lawyer, Chief Chris Uche (SAN), complained that the subpoena served on Prof. Yakubu and the Zamfara State Resident Electoral Commissioner to produce documents on July 15 and July 12 have not being complied with.

In his ruling, Justice Garba said that from the court records, the INEC chairman and the Zamfara State resident electoral commissioner were served with the court subpoena on July 15 and July 12 respectively.

The chairman of INEC, the Zamfara State resident electoral commissioner as well as the first respondent’s legal team are bound to obey the court order.

“We noted that the subpoena has ordered the Chairman of INEC to produce the defendants on July 15 the same date it was served on him, that was impossible. Zamfara State REC has also not produced the documents,” he observed.

In his complaints, Uche (SAN), the lead counsel for the petitioners, had requested the tribunal to assist to ensure that INEC obey its subpoena served on them. He noted that they have refused to release the documents, adding that “they have not being produced and we have not seen them in court.”

But, the lead counsel for INEC, Yunus Ustaz Usman (SAN), said “the legal team was with the chairman of INEC till 11 pm Tuesday night and that he wants to travel today (Wednesday), but he did not tell us that he was served with subpoena to produce any document. He never told us that he was served with any subpoena.”

Justice Garba interjected thus: “The court effected the service on the chairman on July 15. That was the day he was served to appear before the court with the documents. He was required to appear on that date. The subpoena was served on Zamfara State REC on July 12”.

Usman (SAN) replied by saying, “I am aware of that one and I instructed her to certify the documents and bring them but she text that the applicant has not paid for them.

Justice Garba: Are they here now?

Usman: I sent a text and she stated that it has been certified, but their lawyer has not paid to collect it.

Uche (SAN): A Subpoena from court is an order and a summon from the court not the petitioners.

Since the court record has shown that INEC chairman and Zamfara State REC was served, the order of the court must be obeyed. They should make the documents available to us today to tender them before the tribunal.

Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), sais: “While I conceded that Subpoena must be obeyed, I am not defending INEC but I am worried that tomorrow the headline would be that the Commission has frustrated the tribunal hearing. No one party should be set up as frustrating the hearing”.

On his part, the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawyer, Chief Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), told the tribunal that it is not enough to issue Subpoena and that the applicant ought to seek audience with the respondents lawyers.

Replying, Uche, SAN, said: “There were so many efforts made by the petitioners including letter to INEC chairman dated April 15, April 9 and March 12 on same subject matter, but he refused to release the documents.

“In addition to those letters we also wrote INEC lawyer, Usman (SAN) about our difficulties. Let that day never come that a senior counsel will prevail that order of the court should not be obeyed”.

But, Usman (SAN), said that based on letter to him he had supervised the certification of over 40, 000 INEC documents that were made available to the petitioner. He promised to return to INEC today during break to sort things out.