The presidential election petition court criticizes the Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, for their lack of preparedness in the petition filed against President Bola Tinubu‘s victory.
During the court session on Thursday, one of the senior lawyers representing the petitioners, Emeka Okpoko, attempted to submit electoral documents as exhibits. However, it was observed that these documents had not been properly filed and scheduled before the court.
As a result, the court temporarily adjourned the hearing for 10 minutes and requested the legal team to re-file the schedule of documents in accordance with the provisions stated in the pre-hearing report.
However, upon reconvening, the petitioners’ legal team still appeared disorganized. This dissatisfaction led Haruna Tsammani, the leader of the five-member panel presiding over the court, to advise the petitioners to request an adjournment to allow them to properly arrange their documents.
“What we have done today is a waste of time. I think you underrated the kind of job you have to do,” one of the justices said.
In response, Awa Kalu, another experienced lawyer representing the petitioners, stated that they would not be accepting the adjournment proposed by the court.
“I took an adjournment yesterday and I would not like to do that today,” Kalu said.
Subsequently, the issues were resolved, and the petitioners successfully presented electoral documents (form EC8As) from six states. These states include Rivers with 15 Local Government Areas (LGAs), Benue with 23 LGAs, Cross River with 18 LGAs, Niger with 21 LGAs, Osun with 20 LGAs, and Ekiti with 16 LGAs.
In the petition filed by Peter Obi and the Labour Party, a total of 83 witnesses have been identified to testify, representing both the petitioners and the respondents.
The petitioners have indicated their intention to call 50 witnesses, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has listed five witnesses, while President Bola Tinubu and Governor Kashim Shettima have listed 21 witnesses, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) has listed seven witnesses.
The court has set specific dates for each party to present their case. Obi and the Labour Party are scheduled to prove their case from May 30 to June 23, INEC from June 24 to June 29, Tinubu and Shettima from June 30 to July 5, and the APC from July 6 to July 10.
The adoption of final addresses is set for August 5. At this point, only one witness has been called by the petitioners during the proceedings.
