The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) in Abuja has announced a further adjournment of proceedings in the case brought by Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that Obi seeks to challenge the outcome of the presidential election held on February 25.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Obi’s legal team, led by Prof. Awa Kalu, SAN, informed the court that two essential staff members had suddenly fallen ill.
The two staff members in question were described as integral to Obi’s legal secretariat, and their indisposition affected his plan to submit crucial documents before the court. These documents aimed to substantiate Obi’s claim that the presidential election was rigged in favour of President Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).
Prof. Kalu, SAN, humbly and apologetically pleaded before the five-member panel led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, stating, “My lords, our plan for today’s proceedings was to start with the presentation of our documents, but unfortunately, we had some unexpected development. The unexpected development concerns the sudden illness of two of our key staff, for which reason I am constrained to ask for an adjournment till tomorrow. It is with the greatest humility and apology that we make this application. I assure my lords that we will be here tomorrow morning, and we will proceed with vigour.”
Obi’s lawyer had previously informed Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, the lead counsel for President Tinubu, about the situation before the hearing began.
Chief Olanipekun, SAN, representing President Tinubu, expressed no opposition to the request for an adjournment.
Similarly, Mr. Abubakar Mahmood, SAN, representing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, counsel for the APC, also voiced no objections.
However, the respondents requested that a day be deducted from the originally allocated three weeks for Obi to present his case.
Justice Tsammani accepted the application and adjourned the petition until Thursday.
The joint petition filed by Obi and the Labour Party argues that Tinubu was not the legitimate winner of the presidential election. The petitioners also contend that President Tinubu was not eligible to participate in the contest.
One of their key arguments is that when Tinubu’s running mate, Kashim Shettima, became the Vice Presidential candidate, he was still the nominated candidate of the APC for the Borno Central Senatorial election.
Additionally, the petitioners challenge Tinubu’s eligibility based on a previous indictment and fine of $460,000.00 by the United States District Court for involvement in dishonesty and drug trafficking (Case No: 93C 4483).
The petitioners assert that the election was invalid due to corrupt practices and non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022. They argue that INEC failed to follow its own Regulations and Guidelines during the conduct of the presidential poll, particularly regarding the use of technological devices for voter accreditation, verification, and authentication.
Among their requests, the petitioners are urging the court to declare all votes cast for Tinubu and the APC as wasted votes due to his non-qualification/disqualification.
Meanwhile, at 2 pm, the court will continue further hearings on the petition filed by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who secured the second position in the presidential election.
