Presidential poll: Atiku, Obi close case Friday, Tinubu opens June 30

Presidential poll: Atiku, Obi close case Friday, Tinubu opens June 30

The Presidential Election Petition Court sitting in Abuja disclosed that all three petitioners before it would close their case on Friday.

President Bola Tinubu will on June 30 open his defence in all the petitions seeking to sack him from office.
Those challenging the declaration of Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, as the winner of the presidential election held on February 25, are former Vice President and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar; former Anambra State Governor and candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Mr Peter Obi, as well as Allied Peoples Movement, APM.
While Atiku and Obi are separately claiming that they won the presidential contest, the APM is praying the court to void all the votes that were scored by Tinubu.

The APM argued that the withdrawal of Mr Ibrahim Masari, who was initially nominated as the Vice-Presidential candidate of the APC, invalidated Tinubu’s candidacy in view of Section 131(c) and 142 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
All petitioners are seeking the withdrawal of the Certificate of Return the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC issued to Tinubu.

While Atiku, through his team of lawyers led by Chief Chris Uche, SAN, told the court that he would invite 100 witnesses to prove his case, Obi said he would call 50 witnesses.

The APM, which said its case was based on documentary evidence, said it would call only one witness to substantiate its case.

The Justice Haruna Tsammani-led five-member panel had on May 23, consolidated all the petitions and gave the litigants a period of three weeks to present their cases.
The petitioners were supposed to close their case on Tuesday, however, the court extended the period by two more days.
Already, Atiku has called 25 witnesses while Obi has so far called only seven witnesses and tendered many documentary exhibits before the court.
When the matter came up on Tuesday, Atiku’s lawyer, Uche, SAN, told the court that his client might call five more witnesses.
The panel adjourned further hearing on the petitions till Wednesday (today).