[7/3, 12:35 PM] Starrys Obazei: Presidential Tribunal Adjourns INEC’s Defense to July 4

By Starrys Obazei | July 3, 2023.
starrys@ddnewsonline.com

The hearing of the
the defense filed by the Independent National Electoral Commission before Presidential Petition Election Tribunal has been adjourned to Tuesday, July 4.

The court on June 23 fixed Monday, July 3 for respondents to open their case in defense of the petition filed by aggrieved parties challenging the outcome of the February 25 election wherein Bola Tinubu emerged as the president.

According to the schedule, the electoral commission was billed to advance their argument against the petition filed by the Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi on Monday morning.

During Monday’s proceedings, counsel for INEC, A.B Mahmoud, SAN, informed the court that the commission had billed three witnesses to give their testimony in aid of their defense.

However, he said that the witness who was scheduled to testify was unavoidably absent from the court.

He thereafter sought that the matter be moved to the next day – July 4.

Three aggrieved parties and their candidates are challenging the outcome of the presidential election in court.

The petitioners are the LP and Obi; the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and the Allied Peoples Movement.

Following, the parties, together with their candidates in separate petitions dragged the electoral commission, the president, his Vice – Kassim Shetima, and their party, the APC to court.

They had closed their case on June 23, leaving the stage for respondents in the matter to table their defense before the court.