The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal, sitting in Abuja, yesterday resumed after a week, with the Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, yesterday opening their petition against President Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), by calling one witness out of the 50 proposed witnesses.

Before the witness, who is a lawyer and hails from Anambra testified, counsel to Peter Obi, Jibrin Okutepa, tendered a judgement from a district court in the United States, which reportedly indicted Tinubu and ordered his forfeiture of $460,000 in drug-related offences.

The Presidential Election Petitions Court reconvened after a week yesterday to begin the definite hearing in the petitions by the presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP), alongside their parties, challenging Tinubu’s victory in the February 25 election.

The hearing commenced, led in evidence by Okutepa, with an Anambra-based lawyer and LP witness, Lawrence Nwakaeti, tendering the certified true copy of the US district court judgement.

After cross-examination, counsel to Tinubu, Wole Olanipekun, said the witness admitted that the judgement was not registered in Nigeria.

The lawyer also admitted that there was no certificate from any consular in Nigeria or America in support of the judgement but insisted that the judgement speaks for itself.

He claimed to have read the whole judgement in America, adding that he would be surprised if no mention was made of $460,000 forfeiture.

Under cross-examination by counsel to APC, Lateef Fagbemi, the witness said the American court judgement had no certificate given under the hand of any American police officer.

He denied knowledge of a February 4, 2003 formal clearance report by a legal attaché from the American embassy in respect of the alleged indictment and forfeiture.

The counsel for Atiku Abubakar and the PDP, Eyitayo Jegede, tendered all exhibits, including INEC certified true copies of declaration of results, summary of results, printout of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) report for each polling unit in the 36 states, and number of PVCs collected in all the states, including the FCT.

The court also adjourned hearing of the petition of the Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM) to June 2 to give it time to look into the certified true copy of the Supreme Court judgement of May 26 on the controversy surrounding the “double nomination” of Vice President Kashim Shettima, and see how it affects their petition.

Among those present in court to witness the day’s proceedings was LP’s Obi, while his running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed; and the former Minister of State for Labour, Festus Keyamo, were first-time callers.

Keyamo joined the President’s team of lawyers, as senior lawyers were seen in the fully occupied courtroom, earlier, discussing in groups ahead of the sitting.

Atiku, PDP Tender Documents in Support of Petition

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Abubakar Atiku, and the party commenced their case yesterday at the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) in Abuja. They presented documents in support of their petition challenging the declaration of President Bola Tinubu as the winner of the February 25 Presidential Election.

Counsel to the petitioners, Eyitayo Jegede, SAN, tendered several documents during the proceedings. One of the documents presented was the Form EC 8E, which is the final declaration of winners’ result. Additionally, Jegede submitted the Bimodal Voters Accreditation Systems Machines (BVAS) report from all 36 states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) certified documents regarding the number of registered voters and the number of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) collected in all states were also presented.

After the documents were tendered, the Chairman of the Court, Justice Haruna Tsammani, admitted them as evidence. The case was then adjourned until today for further proceedings.

Atiku and the PDP are seeking a declaration from the court to either declare Atiku as the winner of the election or cancel the election and order a fresh one due to alleged irregularities in thousands of polling units.

The presentation of these documents marks a significant step in Atiku and the PDP’s legal challenge to the outcome of the presidential election. The court will carefully consider the evidence presented and determine its relevance to the case. The continuation of proceedings today will provide further insight into the arguments put forth by both parties.

…Adjourns Hearing of APM’s Petition Against INEC, APC to June 2

The Presidential Election Petition Court has adjourned the hearing of the petition of the Allied People’s Movement (APM) against the Independent National Electoral Commission, the All Progressives Congress and others to June 2.

The adjournment is to give the petitioner time to acquire a certified true copy of the Supreme Court judgement delivered on May 26 which laid to rest the controversies around the double nomination of Senator Kashim Shettima as the APC Vice Presidential candidate.

This followed the submission of President Bola Tinubu’s counsel, Wole Olanipekun that the petition doesn’t stand, as the Supreme Court had laid to rest the sole issue the petitioners are asking for.

The counsel for APM on these grounds urged the court for an adjourned date, to be able to look into the certified true copy of the document and see how it affects their petition.

Other counsels in the matter did not oppose the advisory of Wole Olanipekun and the move for adjournment by the counsel for the APM.