The Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, sitting at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, on Wednesday, granted the request of President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to have access to the sensitive materials used by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for the presidential election.
The court, in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel led by Justice Joseph Ikyegh, said it was satisfied there was merit in Tinubu’s request to have access to the electoral materials to enable him to defend his election victory.
It held that both Tinubu and his party, the All Progressives Congress, are entitled to have access to the materials in INEC’s possession to enable them to inspect, scan and make photocopies of them.
Both Tinubu and the APC had in separate exparte applications they brought before the court, said they would need the materials to prepare their defence against petitions that would seek to nullify the outcome of the election.
“The materials will be relevant in helping us to prepare our defence and also make comparison with information contained in INEC’s back-end server”, Tinubu’s lawyer, Mr. Akintola Makinde submitted.