President Tinubu and VP Shettima provided evidence to prove that Peter Obi is not an LP member. They submitted the membership register for Anambra State to the PEPT.
The president and vice president defended themselves in the petition against Obi and the Labour Party’s challenge to their election victory. They argued that Obi, who was not a party member during the last presidential poll, should not have been eligible to contest under the LP. During the defence proceedings at the Abuja Tribunal, their legal representative presented the membership register and a letter from the Labour Party dated April 25, 2022, addressed to the INEC Chairman, as supporting documents.
Tinubu and Shettima stated that Obi resigned from the PDP on May 26, 2022, and joined the Labour Party on May 27, 2022. They said Obi won the LP’s Presidential Primary on May 30, 2022, becoming the candidate for the general election. Tinubu and Shettima’s lawyers argued that, as per Section 77(3) of the Electoral Act, they had to submit their full member register to INEC 30 days before their presidential primary. This meant that the register should have been submitted on or before April 30, 2022. As of April 30, 2022, Obi was believed to still be a PDP member. However, his name was not on the LP’s member list submitted to INEC. Obi’s counsel argues he was a PDP member when he ran in the presidential election for LP. The petitioners’ lawyers objected, but the court allowed documents as Exhibits RA17 and RA18. The tribunal panel set Wednesday for the closing of INEC’s case. The court accepted Tinubu’s educational documents from Chicago State University as an exhibit.
Documents tendered to prove Tinubu’s attendance and graduation included his admission letter and US visa documents, submitted through his lead counsel, Olanipekun. Tinubu provided court documents from the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to counter the allegations of criminality in the petition against him.
