THE absence of a witness, on Monday, July 3 stalled the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from opening its case in the petition filed by Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
Both are challenging INEC’s declaration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner of the February 25, 2023 election.
The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), sitting at the Court of Appeal in Abuja , last week adjourned till Monday for INEC, which is the first respondent in the petition, to open its defence.
When the petition was called, INEC’s Lead Counsel, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), told the court that the first defendant had three days to defend the outcome of the election.
He told the court that the body has three witnesses to present in its case, but regretted that the witness slated to give evidence for the day was not in court and asked for an adjournment until Tuesday, July 4 for INEC to open its case.
Other respondents are Vice President Kashim Shettima and the APC.
The request for adjournment was not opposed by the petitioners, Tinubu, Shettima and the APC.
Consequently, the five-member panel of Justices of the court, led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, adjourned further proceedings in the petition until Tuesday.
