The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and his party are set to close their case on Thursday, June 22 in their joint petition challenging the victory of Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the February 25 presidential election.
According to a pre-hearing report, the petitioners were initially expected to close their case on Tuesday. However, Chief Chris Uche (SAN), their lead counsel, informed the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) that they had lost two days due to unforeseen circumstances and requested the return of the lost time.
During the pre-hearing session, the petitioners had stated their intention to call 100 witnesses but have so far presented only 25 witnesses. The counsel to the petitioners indicated that they might call an additional five witnesses, bringing the total to 30 witnesses.
Uche explained that some of the remaining two days would be dedicated to tendering documents, which would serve as evidence in place of the remaining 70 witnesses.
“We are closing our case on Thursday. It was supposed to end today (Tuesday), but because we lost two days, one of which was the June 12 public holiday, the court graciously extended our time by two days,” Uche stated during a press briefing.
Earlier in the proceedings, the petitioners expressed their frustration over the challenges they faced in obtaining Certified True Copies (CTC) of documents from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to support their joint petition against Tinubu’s election victory.
The counsel representing Atiku and the PDP informed the court that acquiring materials from INEC was akin to obtaining weapons from an opponent. He acknowledged the assistance provided by the legal team of INEC, led by Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), in obtaining some of the required documents.
Uche requested a brief break in the proceedings to allow the petitioners to organize and mark the numerous documents made available to them on Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, INEC’s counsel, Kemi Pinhero (SAN), informed the court that INEC officials had gathered the requested documents from various locations across the country. However, the petitioners had yet to pay for the certification of these documents. Pinhero stressed that it was the responsibility of the petitioners to prepare a schedule of the documents they intended to tender as evidence.
The court adjourned for about ten minutes to allow the parties involved to collaborate and find a way forward regarding the documents. Upon reconvening, Uche informed the court that they had agreed for the petitioners to take the documents, prepare a schedule, and mark them for tendering on Wednesday.
The five-member panel of Justices, led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, adjourned the hearing until Wednesday, June 21 for the continuation of proceedings in the petition.
