The Presidency Election Petition Court has postponed the pre-hearing of the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party and Atiku Abubakar, its presidential candidate, against Bola Tinubu of the All Progressive Congress until Thursday, May 11, 2023.
The Independent National Electoral Commission’s announcement of Tinubu as the president-elect is being contested by the PDP and Atiku in the petition with the file number CA/PEPC/05/2023.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, Bola Tinubu, and the APC are listed as the petition’s first through third respondents, respectively.
Chris Uche SAN, the petitioners’ attorney, noted during Tuesday’s sessions that they had filed and served a motion dated May 7th asking for a live broadcast of the presidential tribunal proceeding.
Given the pressing national concern of the subject at hand, he pointed out that the application was a motion of priority that demands quick action.
As soon as the court’s business permits, we implore your Lordship to set it down for hearing and adoption.
In response, INEC’s legal representative A.B Mahmoud recognized the application, which he called “innocuous,” and asked for time to react because it had just been served.
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Lateef Fagbemi, the second respondent’s attorney, said that after receiving the application, “we are taking steps to respond appropriately to the application.”
In response, Uche SAN stated that he had just learned that the second and third respondents had filed a response and that out of an attitude of cooperation, they were willing to accept service in open court.
If we are to move on, “we pray that the parties don’t insist on the maximum length of time.”
Fagbemi, on the other hand, responded to his assertion and refuted it. “The motion was filed by 9:30 am and not in the open court,” he asserts. We shall adhere to the time constraints and not break them if he stated that counsels should collaborate.
Justice Tsammani responded by asking parties to resolve all issues before making a decision, adding that the request for a live broadcast of the proceeding “will be considered together with the other issues.”
The pre-hearing of the petition against Tinubu was then postponed until Thursday, May 11, 2023, at 2 pm.
Atiku and his party claimed in the 66-page appeal that as of March 1, when Tinubu was declared the winner of the election, INEC had not transferred and uploaded all of the results and accreditation data from voting places.
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