The Presidential Election Petition Court, (PEPC), yesterday, adjourned to May 22, for parties to report back on a consideration for consolidation of the three standing petitions challenging the victory of President-elect Ahmed Bola Tinubu.
Citing paragraph 50, the First Schedule of the Electoral Act 2022, the Chairman of the Court, Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, directed the parties to report back after consultation on the consolidation of the three standing petitions.
The petition has the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as 1st respondent, with Tinubu, Senator Kashim Shettima, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) cited as 2nd to 3rd respondent.
At the resumption of the pre-hearing session on a petition brought by former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, challenging the declaration of Tinubu as the winner of the February 25 election, Chris Uche, SAN, told the court that counsel to the various parties met and agreed on certain modalities to aid the speedy hearing of the petition.
Atiku’s lead counsel told the court that counsel to various parties met and considered the number of witness hours, among others subject to the court’s approval.
According to the lawyer, the petitioner intends not to call up more than 100 witnesses, adding that they (counsels) agreed to prepare schedules of documents to guide the presentation of various documents to be presented during the hearing.
According to him 30 minutes is to be allocated to star witnesses, 10 minutes for each respondent cross-examination, and 5 minutes for re-examination.
Lawyer to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Abubakar Mahmud SAN said that his client who conducted the disputed election plans to call two witnesses to defend the poll. Tinubu on his part is to call 39 witnesses to defend his victory in addition to those to be subpoenaed.
