Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, intends to call 100 witnesses in support of his petition before the Presidential Election Petitions Court.
This strategy differs from that of the other parties involved, as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) intends to call 22 witnesses, Bola Tinubu 39, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) 25.
The proposed modalities for the primary hearing of Abubakar’s petition concerning the outcome of the presidential election held on February 25 include the number of witnesses.
The proposals also call for more time—20 to 30 minutes—for the primary examination of key witnesses and expert witnesses, some of whom will be called to testify under oath.
According to Chris Uche (SAN), Abubakar’s lead counsel, they will only need about three weeks to present their witnesses, despite the law allowing for a seven-week period.
The issues are narrower and are mostly constitutional; so they won’t require much time to determine. For instance, the issue of FCT, Uche explained.
The Presidential Election Petitions Court has adjourned until Monday, May 22, to report on the consolidation of modalities for the hearing of the petitions from the three remaining political parties.