The Presidential Petition Election Court (PEPC) has adjourned to Tuesday, 4th July the hearing of the defence filed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The court on 23rd June fixed Monday, 3rd July for respondents to open their case in defence of the petition filed by aggrieved parties challenging the outcome of the 25th February election wherein the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju 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 (LP) and its presidential election, Mr. Peter Obi on Monday morning.
During Monday’s proceedings, counsel for INEC, Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, informed the court that the commission had billed three witnesses to give their testimony in aid of their defence.
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.
The PEPC headed by Justice Haruna Tsammani heeded the request following the agreement of other parties in the case.
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, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and the Allied Peoples Movement.
The parties, together with their candidates in separate petitions. dragged INEC, Tinubu, his vice presidential candidate, Senator Kassim Shetima, and their party, the APC to court.
They had closed their case on 23rdvJune, leaving the stage for respondents in the matter to table their defence before the court.
Source: The PUNCH
