The presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, and his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi, plan to call about 150 witnesses to prove their cases against the conduct and outcome of the February 25 presidential election in Nigeria.
On the other hand, the President-elect and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, along with his deputy Kashim Shettima, the APC, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), have proposed 39, 21, 25, and 2 witnesses, respectively.
During the pre-hearing of the petition at the Presidential Election Petition Court, the parties presented their proposals regarding the number of witnesses, their examination, and re-examination. Atiku’s lead counsel stated that about 100 witnesses would be called to prove their case, and they intended to take only three weeks instead of the statutory seven weeks. Obi and the Labour Party planned to call 50 witnesses and requested seven weeks to present their petitions.
The timing for witness examination was also discussed. The suggestion was made that “star witnesses” would be allotted 30 minutes for evidence-in-chief, followed by cross-examination for 30 minutes by each respondent and five minutes for re-examination. For other witnesses, it was suggested to allocate 10 minutes for evidence-in-chief, 10 minutes for cross-examination by each respondent, and five minutes for re-examination.
INEC stated that they planned to call five witnesses and would require seven days to argue their case. They proposed 30 minutes for the star witness’s evidence-in-chief, 15 minutes for cross-examination, and five minutes for re-examination. For regular witnesses, they suggested 10 minutes for evidence-in-chief, 15 minutes for cross-examination, and five minutes for re-examination.
Tinubu and Shettima’s counsel stated that they would call 21 witnesses to defend their clients, excluding expert witnesses. They requested that expert reports be provided to the respondents within 48 hours. The proposed timing for expert witnesses was 20 minutes for evidence-in-chief, 30 minutes for cross-examination, and five minutes for re-examination. For regular witnesses, they suggested 10 minutes for evidence-in-chief, 15 minutes for cross-examination, and five minutes for re-examination.
The counsel for the APC mentioned that they would need nine days to call their seven witnesses, excluding subpoenaed witnesses. They agreed with the timing suggested by Tinubu and Shettima’s counsel. The court urged the lawyers to meet and reach an agreement on the issue of consolidating the petition, and the matter was adjourned till Monday for the continuation of the pre-hearing.
