Presidential Tribunal Gives Atiku, PDP Three Weeks To Present Petitions

The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja has given the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, three weeks to present their petitions.

Naija News reports that the five-man panel of the tribunal headed by Justice Haruna Tsammani stated this at the resumed hearing on Tuesday morning.

The tribunal ruled that Atiku and the PDP have three weeks to conduct their case, and will be expected to call their first sets of witnesses, with August 8 chosen as the date for final adoption after which the judgment day will be announced.

The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) was also allocated one day to conduct its case, while July 3 is chosen as the date for final adoption, following which a date will be set for judgment.

While the Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, were given three weeks to present their petitions, beginning on May 30 when they shall begin to call witnesses and closing on June 23.

The court has fixed May 30 to commence a definite hearing of the petitions.

According to the Constitution, the tribunal has 180 days to determine the petitions and that expires on September 16, 2023.

Recall that the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) had on Monday opposed the merger of petitions, while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) maintained a neutral stand on the issue.