The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) has allocated 10 days to the petitioners – Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – to call the 400 witnesses they planned to call to prove their case.
The PDP and its candidate in the last presidential election, are by their petition, challenging the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Party (APC). Respondents to the petition – the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Buhari and the APC – have equally been allocated six days each to call their witnesses.
The allocation of days to parties in the case was agreed at the tribunal’s pre-hearing session. conducted on Monday, where the scheduling of the hearing process was equally agreed. Petitioner’s lead lawyer, Livy Uzoukwu disclosed, at the commencement of proceedings on Monday that Atiku and the PDP planned to call 400 witnesses to prove their case.
Also on Monday, the tribunal also heard the motion by the petitioners, seeking the re-hearing of the motion filed by the APC, praying it to dismiss the petition for being incompetent. The tribunal has adjourned ruling on the motion till Wednesday.