Tribunal adjourns hearing in LP, APP’s petitions to May 10

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The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) has adjourned pre-hearing in the petitions filed by the Action Peoples Party (APP) and Labour Party (LP) until Wednesday, May 10.

The five-member panel led by Justice Haruna Tsammani had its inaugural sitting on Monday, May 8.

The court would also hear the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on Tuesday, May 9.

When the petition of the Labour Party was called, Levi Uzoukwu, SAN, announced appearance for the party and for the LP presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

Uzoukwu told the court that he had filed his clients’ answers to the pre-hearing questions, adding that he adopted and relied on same for the proceedings.

Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, who announced appearance for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), also told the court that he had filed his responses to the pre-hearing questions on behalf of his client.

Mahmoud said he would adopt same as INEC’s answers to all the questions.

Wole Olanipekun, SAN, who represented the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, and the Vice-President-elect, Kashim Shettima, told the court that he had filed all the responses to the pre-hearing questions on behalf of his clients and adopted same.

In the same vein, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, representing the All Progressives Congress (APC), told the court that he had filed answers in response to the pre-hearing questions on behalf of his client and was ready to argue same when a date was fixed.

Justice Tsammani advised parties to meet and resolve documents that they would be objecting to and those they would not object and to also harmonise their processes.

He, therefore, adjourned the matter until Wednesday at 2:00 p.m.

Justice Tsammani had earlier said the panel had five petitions before it but that only three petitions would be heard on Monday while the other two would be taken on Tuesday.

The petitions heard were those filed by Action Alliance (AA) marked: CA/PEPC/01/2023, Action Peoples Party (APP) marked: CA/PEPC/02/2023; and Peter Obi and Labour Party (LP) marked: CA/PEPC/03/2023.

AA, however, withdrew its petition and it was subsequently dismissed.

Justice Tsammani further assured the lawyers and litigants that the panel would do justice to all petitions, adding that they would be satisfied with the verdict at the end of the case.

He cautioned against making sensational comments and also advised the lawyers to focus on the substance of their petitions and avoid technicalities.

The Star