The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, will close their case on Thursday, June 22.
This was in response to the court’s decision to grant the party two additional days after they had lost those days throughout the proceeding.
According to the timetable, the party was scheduled to close its case Tuesday, but due to the Democracy Day holiday on Monday, June 12, and last Saturday, they lost two days meant to tender documents and field witnesses.
Speaking off camera, counsel to PDP, Chris Uche said they had fielded 25 witnesses and would make it a round number of 30. The 70 remaining witnesses would come in the form of tendered documents.
Earlier, the PDP lamented the difficulties encountered in getting Certified True Copies (CTCs) of documents out of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in aid of their petition challenging the declaration of President Bola Tinubu.
At the resumed hearing on Tuesday at the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT), the PDP’s Counsel said INEC brought the CTC of the voter register for the Federal Capital Territory, although not all, and they wished to tender them as exhibits.
INEC, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and Counsel to Tinubu all objected to the admissibility of the document. The court however admitted it as evidence.
Uche further expressed displeasure that they had applied for a CTC of a subpoena since May 26 and INEC had just produced it, making it difficult to work on.
INEC however accused the party/Atiku of not paying for the certification and are accusing the commission of delaying the documents. The counsel stated that they have called INEC officials from across Nigeria to assemble all the documents
The case has been adjourned till Wednesday, June 21 for the continuation of hearing.
The court will thereafter reconvene to hear the petition filed by the Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
Following the emergence of the then-APC candidate, Bola Tinubu, as Nigeria’s president, the PDP challenged the outcome of the February 25 presidential election.
Runner-up Abubakar, a former Vice President, is one of the aggrieved parties before the tribunal, asking the court to nullify Tinubu’s victory.