On Wednesday before the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), the Labour Party (LP) and Peter Obi, its presidential candidate, were unable to continue their case. The court scheduled more hearings on their petition for 9 a.m. on Wednesday, giving them four hours to continue presenting their case by calling additional witnesses and submitting documents.
An attorney for the petitioners, Awa Kalu (SAN), informed the court during the case’s mention on Wednesday that they had intended to begin with the presenting of documents but were hampered by issues at their secretariat.
Two important members of the petitioners’ secretariat became ill, according to Kalu, making it impossible for them to carry out their daily tasks. He requested a change till Thursday.
Wole Olanipekun (SAN) for Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettma, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN) for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) for the All Progressives Congress (APC) did not raise any objections to Kalu’s motion for an adjournment.
Nevertheless, Mahmoud urged the court to note the day against the petitioners and subtract it from the number of days previously allotted to them to submit their case.
Kalu’s motion for an adjournment was approved by the presiding justice (PJ), Justice Haruna Tsammani, who adjourned the case till Thursday at 9 a.m. The petitioners’ outing on Wednesday was equally unsatisfactory because they could only use a portion of the three hours allotted to them.
They could only provide two sets of documents and one witness. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Atiku Abubakar’s petition will be discussed further when the PEPC reconvenes at 2 p.m.
