The Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja has rejected the testimonies and exhibits tendered by 10 out of the 13 witnesses presented by the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi.
Haruna Tsammani, the head of the five-member bench, made the pronouncement in his judgement on the petition filed by Mr Obi and his party to challenge the election of President Bola Tinubu.
The judge is still reading the judgement as of the time of filing this report.
Tsammani said Obi called 13 witnesses, who testified as PW1 to PW13, noting that of the 13 witnesses, only three witnesses whose statements are on oath, were filed along with the petition.
The remaining 10 witnesses, the Justice said, were subpoenaed and their witness statements on oath were only filed after the hearing started.
Mr Tsammani said under section 285 of the Nigerian constitution, section 137(7) of the Electoral Act 2022, and other provisions, every witness statement on oath must be filed along with the petition.
He said that based on the Supreme Court authority, once the 21-day window for filing an election petition lapses, the content of the petition cannot be amended.
Tsammani said the petitioners were aware of the legal provision relating to the filing of witness statements on oath, yet went ahead to present 10 witnesses without their witness statements on oath earlier filed with the petition.
Details later…
