The Labour Party, LP, and its presidential candidate Peter Obi have received a warning from the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to stop pointing the finger at the commission for their failure to successfully advance their case before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, or PEPT.

This warning was given by Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), counsel for INEC, in response to Livy Uzoukwu (SAN), counsel for LP and Obi, on Wednesday.

Midway through the hearings on Wednesday, Audu Anuga (SAN), a member of the petitioners’ legal team who was tendering documents, abruptly stated that they had used up all of their resources for the day. Uzoukwu immediately placed the blame on INEC.

The attorney alleged that a subpoena issued to Professor Mahmood Yakubu to provide specific papers was rejected by the INEC Chairman’s office.

The INEC Chairman’s office’s unwillingness to comply with a subpoena filed on him to produce some papers, a situation that was impeding progress in their case, said Uzoukwu, who is the head of the petitioners’ legal team, as he stood up and addressed the court.

But the INEC attorney Pinheiro observed that the petitioners had a tendency to continually hunt for someone to blame whenever they became stuck and couldn’t move their case along.

He said, “It has become a habit. Whenever they want to seek an adjournment, they look for somebody to whip. It cannot be true that a subpoena is refused by the office of the INEC Chairman.

“Don’t use INEC as a whipping boy. If they have nothing else to do today, they should just say so. It is their day. It is not correct that the office of INEC Chairman refused to accept a subpoena,” he added.