Obi demands seven weeks to prove case against Tinubu

Peter Obi and Bola Ahmed Tinubu

Obi demands seven weeks to prove case against Tinubu

Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, says he will require seven weeks to prove at the tribunal that the 2023 presidential election was rigged against him.

He has also lined up 50 witnesses to testify in the case.

Obi said these at the resumed proceedings of the petition he filed to challenge the victory of the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Prof. Awa Kalu, SAN, leading his team of lawyers, said Obi required the seven weeks due to “a few hiccups” he encountered with the Independent National Electoral Commission.

“My lords, we still have a few hiccups at INEC because of the order that was made by this court on March 8, directing them to allow us to carry out a forensic examination of the BVAS. They have not allowed us.

“We are also waiting for some documents we requested from them,” Prof. Kalu added.

He told the court that the parties agreed to give 30 minutes for star witnesses in the matter to present their evidence-in-chief, excluding the time for possible demonstration of any electronic evidence.

Whereas Obi’s lawyer disclosed that parties agreed to use 20 minutes each to cross-examine the witnesses, another five minutes would be used for their re-examination.

But INEC, through its lawyer, Mr Abubakar Mahmood, SAN, said it had no agreement with either Obi or the LP on time to be allocated to the witnesses.

The electoral body also said they were not aware of any hiccups being faced by the petitioners.

INEC, the first respondent in the matter, said it would need three days to present its two witnesses.

The President-elect, Tinubu, through his lawyer, Mr Roland Otaru, SAN, said he would need nine days to call a total of 21 witnesses, excluding expert witnesses, to defend his election victory.

Counsel for the APC, Mr Niyi Akintola, SAN, said the party would call only seven witnesses, excluding those to be subpoenaed, to testify in the matter.