The All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Bola Tinubu are scheduled to open their defence next week in the ongoing petition challenging the outcome of the presidential election.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that Tinubu emerged victorious in the election, securing 8,794,726 votes, surpassing Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with 6,984,520 votes, and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) with 6,101,533 votes.
Following the election, Obi, Atiku, and their respective political parties lodged petitions before the tribunal. The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) also filed a petition and concluded its case after presenting a single witness on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Atiku and the PDP closed their case after calling 27 witnesses, while Obi and the LP presented 13 witnesses before closing their case on Friday.
During the recent tribunal session, the counsels for all parties informed the court that instead of commencing the defence on June 31 as initially scheduled, they agreed to request a further adjournment until after the Muslim holiday.
Wole Olanipekun, counsel to Tinubu, stated, “My lords, all of us took into consideration some important factors, particularly the fact that some of us would like to travel to celebrate with our families and loved ones. Moreover, there is likely to be a two-day public holiday next week. We therefore plead with your lordships to adjourn the case until after the Sallah celebration.”
He assured the court that their presentation would not exceed the allocated time, saying, “We will start and conclude our case within the same week.”
The five-member panel of justices, led by Harunna Tsammani, granted the request and adjourned the proceedings to July 3 for continuation.
This newspaper learnt that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is expected to present its defence first.
