News
Tribunal Rules: LP Fails To Substantiate Electoral Irregularity Claims
It was only in one instance that figures were given for alleged suppressed votes
The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) has concluded that the Labour Party’s (LP) petition regarding irregularities in the 2023 presidential election lacked specific details.
On Wednesday in Abuja, the Tribunal rendered a ruling stating that pleadings must articulate essential facts and specific details. In the immediate petition, there was a lack of effort to substantiate particular allegations or provide specifics regarding the complaints.
The Tribunal added that the law explicitly requires that if someone alleges irregularities in a specific polling unit, they must substantiate those particular irregularities in that very polling unit for the petition to be successful.
The Tribunal held that the petitioners did not provide evidence for the specific polling units where the election did not occur, nor did they furnish particulars regarding polling units where alleged complaints of irregularities were made.
The court emphasized, “It was only in one instance that figures were given for alleged suppressed votes, and we all understand that elections revolve around numbers.”
LP had claimed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) decreased their scores and added them to the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s tally.
However, the court noted that LP did not provide specific details of their actual scores before the alleged reductions, nor did they identify the polling units where these changes supposedly occurred.
