The Election Tribunal has set July 3 for the respondents to launch their defence against aggrieved political parties disputing the outcome of the February 25 presidential election. The petitioners recently concluded their respective petitions before the Presidential Election Petition Court.
The petitioners – People Democratic Parties (PDP), Labour Party (LP) and their respective candidates are contesting President Bola Tinubu’s victory. This was according to the results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
INEC, Tinubu, his vice, Kashim Shettima, and the All Progressives Congress will argue against the accusations of the petitioners.
According to a credible source, the responders will likely open and close their defence within a week.
“That week is for all the respondents. All the petitioners finished in three weeks. It’s likely the first respondent will take the morning session, the second respondent will take afternoon, then maybe the following day, they will alternate between the President and the party, morning and afternoon sessions.”
“In any event, all the respondents by the scheduling order of the court were given five days. It can extend but the petitioners did not extend, so it’s not likely the respondents will ask for an extension.”
On June 23, 2023, PDP and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, closed their case after calling 27 witnesses. The Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, also finished their case against Tinubu. They closed it the same day after calling 13 witnesses in favour of their petition.
Both petitioners presented several documents that the court accepted and designated as exhibits.
The petitioners also called witnesses, including INEC ad hoc workers and officials, to testify in court.
The PDP and Atiku contested the election results on the main grounds that INEC did not conduct the election in accordance with the Electoral Act (2022).
They claimed that INEC broke its promise to send the presidential election results electronically via the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System and the INEC Results Viewing Portal.
The LP and Obi both claimed that electoral malpractices plagued the polls.
The petitioners want the court’s five-member panel, led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, to overturn Tinubu’s victory announcement.
In a related incident, the Allied Peoples Movement sought the court to nullify the President’s votes due to his vice’s double nomination, Shettima.
The APM said that when Shettima became the APC’s vice presidential candidate, he was also a senatorial contender in Borno State.
The APM case was opened and concluded on June 21 after one private witness was called.
cc: Punch Ng
