Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, has persuaded the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, sitting in Abuja, to adjourn further proceedings on the case he filed to challenge the outcome of the February 25 presidential election.
Obi informed the court on Wednesday, through his team of lawyers led by Prof. Awa Kalu, SAN, that two of his key staff members had suddenly fallen ill.
He claimed that the absence of the duo, who were described as part of his legal Secretariat’s engine room, hampered his plans to present vital documents to the court to prove his claim that the presidential election was rigged in favour of President Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
My lords, our plan for today’s proceedings was to start with the presentation of our documents, but unfortunately, we had some unexpected development.
The unexpected development concerns the sudden illness of two of our key staff, for which reason I am constrained to ask for an adjournment till tomorrow.
It is with the greatest humility and apology that we make this application.
I assure my lords that we will be here tomorrow morning and we will proceed with vigour, Prof. Kalu, SAN, pleaded.
Obi’s lawyer told the five-member panel led by Justice Haruna Tsammani that he had informed President Tinubu’s lead counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, about the development before the sitting began.
President Tinubu’s lawyer, Chief Olanipekun, SAN, told the court in his response that he was not opposed to the request for an adjournment.
Similarly, Mr. Abubakar Mahmood, SAN, who appeared for the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, counsel for the APC, said they were not opposed to the request.
However, the respondents asked the court to cut a day from the three weeks set aside for Obi to present his case.
Justice Tsammani granted the application and adjourned the petition until Thursday in a brief ruling.
Obi and the LP had previously stated their intention to call a total of 50 witnesses in the case.
Obi, who finished third in the election, claims in the joint petition he filed with the LP that Tinubu was not the legitimate winner of the presidential election.
The petitioners in CA/PEPC/03/2023, also claimed that President Tinubu was not qualified to run in the presidential election.
According to the petitioners, Kashim Shettima, Tinubu’s running mate, was still the APC’s nominated candidate for the Borno Central Senatorial election when Tinubu became the Vice Presidential candidate.
The petitioners also questioned Tinubu’s eligibility to run for president, claiming that he had previously been indicted and fined $460,000.00 by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, in Case No: 93C 4483, for an offence involving dishonesty and drug trafficking.
The petitioners argued that INEC acted in violation of its own Regulations and Guidelines, rendering the election invalid due to corrupt practises and non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.
The Petitioners contended that, during the course of the presidential election, the electoral body was legally required to prescribe and deploy technological devices for the accreditation, verification, continuation, and authentication of voters and their perticulars in its Regulations.
They are, therefore, praying the court to among other things, declare that all the votes recorded for Tinubu and the APC, were wasted votes owing to his non-qualification/disqualification.
“That it be determined that on the basis of the remaining votes (after discountenancing the votes credited to the 2nd Respondent) the 1st Petitioner (Obi) scored a majority of the lawful votes cast at the election and had not less than 25% of the votes cast in at least 2/3 of the States of the Federation, and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and satisfied the constitutional requirements to be declared the winner of the 25th February 2023 presidential election.
That it be determined that the 2nd Respondent having failed to score one-quater of the votes cast at the presidential election in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, was not entitled to be declared and returned as the winner of the presidential election held on 25th February, 2023.
In the alternative, the petitioners want an order cancelling the election and compelling INEC to conduct a fresh election at which Tinubu, Shettima and the APC, listed as 2nd, 3rd and 4th Respondents, respectively, shall not participate.
They urged the court to declare that since Tinubu was not duly elected by a majority of the lawful votes cast in the election, therefore, his return as the winner of the presidential election, was unlawful, unconstitutional and of no effect whatsoever.
In a further alternative prayer, the petitioners want the court to hold that the presidential election was void on the ground that it was not conducted substantially in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, and the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
Likewise, an order, cancelling the presidential election conducted on 25th February 2023 and mandating the 1st Respondent to conduct a fresh election for the President, the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Both Obi and his Vice Presidential candidate, Baba Ahmed Datti, were in court on Wednesday to observe the proceeding.
Meanwhile, the court will by 2pm, continue further hearing on the petition that was filed by candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who came second in the presidential election.