Presidential election candidate Peter Obi, representing the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, has requested an extension of seven weeks to present witnesses supporting his case at the Presidential Election Petition Court. Obi, who is challenging the victory of President-elect Bola Tinubu, made the demand during the proceedings of his filed petition on Saturday.
Speaking on behalf of Obi, his legal team led by Prof. Awa Kalu, SAN, expressed the need for additional time due to certain difficulties encountered at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
These challenges, along with the court’s previous order to conduct a forensic examination of the BVAS (Biometric Voter Authentication System), which INEC has yet to allow, contributed to the request for a seven-week extension.
Prof. Kalu stated, “My lords, we still face a few hurdles at INEC due to the court’s order on March 8, which directed them to grant us permission for the forensic examination of the BVAS. They have not complied with the order. We are also awaiting the documents we requested from them.”
Obi’s legal counsel also outlined the proposed time allocation for witnesses, with star witnesses given 30 minutes for presenting evidence-in-chief, excluding any time required for electronic evidence demonstrations.
Cross-examination by the parties involved would be limited to 20 minutes each, with an additional five minutes allowed for re-examination.
However, INEC, represented by Mr. Abubakar Mahmood, SAN, refuted any agreement regarding the allocated time for witnesses, expressing unawareness of the challenges faced by the petitioners.
As the first respondent in the case, INEC stated that it would require three days to present its two witnesses.
President-elect Tinubu, through his lawyer Roland Otaru, SAN, stated the need for nine days to call upon a total of 21 witnesses (excluding expert witnesses) in defense of his election victory.
Similarly, the All Progressives Congress (APC) counsel, Niyi Akintola, SAN, announced that the party would present only seven witnesses (excluding subpoenaed witnesses) to testify on the matter.
The APC also stated that nine days would suffice to defend Tinubu’s election, highlighting that Obi and the Labour Party had only provided statements from three witnesses in their submission.
All respondents agreed that they must be given a 48-hour notice before any expert witnesses are brought to testify in the case. The court has adjourned the matter to June 6 for further discussion.
