- The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) has stated that the the witnesses presented by Labour Party and its presidential candidate Peter Obi are incompetent.
At the heart of the PEPT judgments were the testimonies of these 10 witnesses presented by the Labour Party. Unfortunately, the Tribunal deemed these witnesses as INCOMPETENT and their testimonies are WORTHLESS. Due to a critical oversight – their witness statements were filed after the prescribed petition filing deadline, despite their availability at the time of the petition’s submission.
The Tribunal also emphasized the importance of listing all witnesses during the initial petition filing, a fundamental requirement for transparency and fairness in the judicial process. Failure to include witnesses initially can have serious consequences, as seen in this case.
This particular case revolved around allegations of widespread electoral irregularities spanning various levels of government. However, the crux of the matter was the specificity of these allegations. The Tribunal stressed the need for clear and specific descriptions of where irregularities occurred, rather than vague, sweeping claims.
The legal principle underscored by the Tribunal was that petitioners must provide concrete evidence to support allegations in specific polling units when irregularities are alleged. Broad claims without pinpointing where these irregularities took place fall short. The burden of proof squarely rests on the petitioner’s shoulders.
Ultimately, the Tribunal found that the petitioners had not met the burden of proof, lacking sufficient evidence to identify specific polling units with alleged irregularities. Consequently, their case suffered a significant setback.