How many witnessess, Obi, Atiku, Tinubu, odas wan carry go Presidential Election Petition Court?
- Author, Tamara Ebiwei
- Role, Broadcast Journalist
Di Presidential Election Petition Court wey dey sit for Abuja, Nigeria capital, don ready to combine di petitions wey di petitioners carry come.
Di panel of judges decide dis afta dem sit on Saturday 20 May, 2023, sake of say, dem dey try rush di pre-hearing stage by Monday 22 May 2023.
Dem make dis decision afta di Petitioners and Respondents agree on di number of witnesses wey each of dem go bring come court.
Peter Obi of Labour Party say im get 50 witnesses wey go testify and give evidence to establish say dem rig di 2023 Presidential election against am.
Obi thru im lawyer Awa Kalu, SAN, tell court say dem go need seven weeks to present dia case before di court and im manage to ask for dis seven weeks sake of some challenges wey dem get wit di Independent National Electoral Commission. (INEC).
“My Lords we still get some challenges wit Inec sake of di order wey dis court make on 8 March, directing dem to allow us carry out forensic examination of di BVAS. Dem neva allow us. We still dey wait for some documents wey we demand from dem.”
Im tell court say all of dem don agree say star witnesses go get 30 minutes to present dia evidence-in-chief. Come add say di time for possible demonstration of any electronic evidence no go follow.
But Inec lawyer Abubakar Mahmood, SAN, say im no agree wit Peter Obi or Labour Party on di time wey dem go give witnesses to testify. Inec also deny say Labour Party dey face any challenges.
End of Di one wey oda users dey read well well
“I no know of any challenges, I don already tell di Lead Counsel, Livy Uzoukwu say I go assist am if I’m dey face any difficulty. But I neva receive any complain like dat from am so far.”
Inec say dem need three days to present di two witnesses wey dem get.
Meanwhile Counsel to President-elect Bola Tinubu, Rowland Otaru, SAN, tell court say im need nine days to present dia 21 witnesses, expert witnesses no follow for dis 21 pipo wey go defend im victory for di 2023 presidential election.
APC Counsel, Niyi Akintola say na only seven witnesses dem go bring and dem need nine days to defend Tinubu.
Di ones wey go be subpoena, wey go testify for di mata no follow for di seven.
All di respondents agree say dem must give dem 48 hours notice before dem go bring any expert witness to testify.
How di Atiku petition against INEC, Tinubu and APC case waka
For di petition wey Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of di Peoples Democratic Party file against President-elect Bola Tinubu, wit Inec and APC as respondents, dem also agree on di number of witnesses dem go bring and time allocated to all of dem for examination and cross-examination.
Counsel to PDP, Chris Uche, SAN tell court say dem dey propose 30 minutes for Lead Star witness.
“My Lords we Dey propose 30 minutes for Lead Star witnesses, 15 minutes for each respondent for cross examination, five minutes for re-examination.
For oda witnesses of oda petitioners, Evidence-in-chief go get 10 minutes, cross-examination 10 minutes for each respondent while dem go also get 5 minutes for re-examination.
We Dey hope to call not more Dan 100 witnesses.”
Inec counsel Abubakar Mahmood tell court say im na two witnesses dem go bring.
Tinubu side say na 39 witnesses im go present while APC say na 25 witnesses dem get.
Chairman of di Presidential Election Petition Court, Justice Haruna Tsamani adjourn di pre-hearing till Monday 22 May, 2023
Im tok say dem go consolidate all di petitions, dis one mean say dem go collapse all di petitions into one on Monday.
Court go also give ruling on di applications wey all parties don file so far wey court don hear.
Court dey also expected to give ruling on di Live Telecast of di proceedings on Monday.
Di Presidential Election Petition Court start since Monday 8 May, 2023. Na di second weekend of pre-hearing end today.
