ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – The planned commencement of defence by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) was stalled this morning, Monday, 3 July 2023.
This is following the absence of its first witness to the case.
INEC, which is the first respondent in the petition by Mr Peter Obi and the Labour Party (LP), was scheduled to open its defence today.
But when the case was mentioned around 9:30 am, the lawyer to INEC, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), told the court that the witness slated for today was unavailable because of some family issues.
He noted, however, that his client plans to call three witnesses within three days.
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Mahmoud then applied for an adjournment till Tuesday to enable the witness to attend court.
Lawyers to other parties in the case – Livy Uzoukwu (SAN) for Obi/LP, Wole Olanipekun (SAN) for President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettma, and Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) for the All Progressives Congress (APC) – did not object to the request by Mahmoud.
In his ruling, the Presiding Justice, Justice Haruna Tsammani, adjourned the hearing till Tuesday by 9 am.
The court has risen but with a promise to return at 2 pm for the petition by Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).