Presidential Tribunal: INEC Ends Defense With One Witness, Documents, Tinubu To Commence Defense On Tuesday

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has concluded its defence against the election petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

INEC’s lawyer, Abubakar Mahmoud, announced the conclusion after hearing from a single witness and presenting a collection of documents at the Presidential Election Petition Court.

The solitary witness, Dr Lawrence Bayode, an Information Technology (IT) expert and Deputy Director in INEC’s IT Department, testified about the glitches that occurred during the transmission of the presidential election results.

Bayode clarified that despite these glitches and whether the results were transmitted electronically or manually, the integrity of the polling unit result sheets remained unaffected.

Following INEC’s conclusion, Wole Olanipekun, the lawyer representing President Bola Tinubu, informed the court that the second respondent will commence his defence on Tuesday.

Peter Obi vs Tinubu: Tribunal Adjourns Hearing As INEC Witnesses Fail To Show Up

The Presidential Election Petition Court on Monday adjourned the hearing in the petition filed by the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

Naija News reports that the court adjourned till Tuesday, 4th July 2023 due to the INEC’s inability to open its defence as a result of the absence of three witnesses.

When the case was mentioned around 9:30 am, a lawyer to INEC, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), told the court that although his client plans to call three witnesses within three days, the one slated for today is unavailable because of some family issues.