Election petition: Atiku to call 100 witnesses in three weeks

 Nigerianewslite

Politics

Atiku

Rati Owen With Agency Report

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the February 25 election, Atiku Abubakar, has requested three weeks to call 100 witnesses to prove his case against the President-elect, Bola Tinubu.

Atiku and the PDP, at the proceedings before the Presidential Election Petition Court, sitting in Abuja, on Saturday, through his legal team led by Chief Chris Uche, SAN, disclosed that among those he has lined up to testify in the matter would include expert witnesses and those he would ask the court to compel to mount the witness box.

“We may not even exhaust the three weeks because the issues are getting narrower,” the lawyer noted.

While the President-elect, Tinubu, said he would only need two days to discredit Atiku’s case, the Independent National Electoral Commission, through its lawyer, Abubakar Mahmood, SAN, told the court that it would only call two witnesses.

The All Progressives Congress through its lawyer, Mr Solomon Umoh, SAN, noted that it would also need two days to produce 39 witnesses.

Tinubu’s lead counsel at the proceedings, Mr Roland Otaro, SAN, further disclosed that his client would call 39 witnesses to testify before the court, not excluding other persons he may apply to be subpoenaed to appear before the court.

Atiku further prayed the court to declare him the winner of the presidential election, having secured the second-highest number of lawful votes cast at the election.

JUST IN: Tribunal Adjourns Atiku’s Petition Against Tinubu till Monday

Nigerianewslite

Politics

The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja has once again adjourned further pre-hearing in the petition filed by Atiku Abubakar, the Presidential candidate of the PDP, against President-Elect Bola Tinubu.

Nigarnews reports that the adjournment was granted at the request of the parties involved, allowing them time to consult on the provision of Section 50 of the Electoral Act.

Section 50 of the Electoral Act addresses the consolidation of pending petitions.

This newspaper learnt that while the first respondent, INEC, and the other parties – Atiku, Tinubu, and the APC – sought time to consult and provide a report to the tribunal, all parties agreed on the procedural details for the upcoming proceedings.

After careful consideration of the submissions from each party, the tribunal decided to adjourn until Monday for the continuation of the hearing.

The tribunal has temporarily adjourned and will reconvene shortly to proceed with the pre-hearing session for Peter Obi and the Labour Party’s petition.