#PEPTJudgement: People may resort to other means to get justice, Peter Obi’s counsel warns
Dr Livy Uzoukwu, SAN, the lawyer of the Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, has hinted that his client and team might resort to other means of seeking justice.
This assertion was made by Uzoukwu on Wednesday, after the judgement of the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal, that upheld the election of President Bola Tinubu
He emphasised that litigants who are unhappy with an election’s outcome may turn to self-help if they continue to have a hard time proving their case because of roadblocks from governmental organisations like the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Obi’s lawyer also cautioned that sound electoral law will vanish from the nation if precautions were not taken.
“If we are not careful, our electoral jurisprudence will eventually disappear. I am saying this with every amount of sincerity because when the litigant, when those who contested the election continue to find it very difficult to establish their case due to obstacles on the way, starting with INEC, certainly they may resort to some other means of trying to get justice, which may not be lawful.
Obi’s lawyer also cautioned that sound electoral law will vanish from the nation if precautions were not taken.
“If we are not careful, our electoral jurisprudence will eventually disappear. I am saying this with every amount of sincerity because when the litigant, when those who contested the election continue to find it very difficult to establish their case due to obstacles on the way, starting with INEC, certainly they may resort to some other means of trying to get justice, which may not be lawful
Also, I commend the Court of Appeal for introducing live streaming. You may recall that we applied to the court to have live streaming of all the proceedings, but the court, in its wisdom did not grant the application.
But now, in the end, they saw the wisdom in it and the need to guarantee transparency, hence, live streaming of the judgement.
“Certainly, it would have been better if it was live streaming of the entire proceedings so that the public would have the chance to watch and be able to relate properly with the judgement.
“So, I will hope and pray that this time, it will be continuous, starting from the beginning of a case.
“That is the only way that you can guarantee transparency because when something is open, Nigerians will see things for themselves and they will make up their minds, one way or the other,” he said.