Presidential Tribunal: Peter Obi Needs 7 Weeks To Call 50 Witnesses

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi who is challenging the outcome of the presidential election that was held on February 25, has requested seven weeks to call 50 witnesses to prove his case against the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

The request was made on Saturday during the continuation of the pre-hearing case before the presidential election tribunal headed by Justice Haruna Tsammani.

Naija News understands Obi and the Labour Party intend to present 50 witnesses to court who will testify for 30 minutes in court, excluding the time for any electronic demonstration of evidence.

Their lawyer, Awa Kalu (SAN) announced this during the pre-hearing session in the petition on Saturday.

Explaining the reason behind the request, Kalu said his clients will require seven weeks to present their case because they still are still experiencing some hiccups in their dealings with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

He said the petitioners are yet to conduct the court-ordered forensic examination of the BVAS devices used for the last presidential election and yet to receive some of the documents requested from INEC.

This was also buttressed by a member of Obi’s legal team and a chieftain of the LP, Kenneth Okonkwo who wrote via his Twitter account: “Labour Party and @PeterObi will require 7 weeks to give evidence in their case. They will present 50 witnesses to court who will testify for 30 minutes in court, excluding the time for any electronic demonstration of evidence. The Court will rule on it subsequently.”

Atiku To Call 100 Witnesses

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, is planning to summon 100 witnesses in support of his petition before the Presidential Election Petitions Court.

This strategy contrasts with the approaches of other involved parties, as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) plans to call 22 witnesses, Bola Tinubu 39, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) 25.

The plans for the number of witnesses are part of the suggested modalities for the primary hearing of Abubakar’s petition concerning the outcome of the presidential election held on February 25.

The proposals also include granting more time—20 to 30 minutes—for the principal examination of key witnesses and expert witnesses, some of whom will be subpoenaed to testify under oath.

According to Chris Uche (SAN), lead counsel to Abubakar, they will need only about three weeks to present their witnesses, despite the law allowing for a period of seven weeks.