Presidential tribunal postpones INEC’s defence to July 4

The court set Monday, July 3 for respondents to present their case in defense of the petition brought by retaliating parties contesting the results of the February 25 election in which Bola Tinubu won the presidency. This date was set by the court on June 23.

The electoral commission was scheduled to present their case against the petition submitted by the Labour Party and its candidate for president, Peter Obi, on Monday morning.

A.B. Mahmoud, SAN, the attorney representing INEC, revealed to the court during Monday's hearings that the commission had paid three witnesses to testify in support of their defense.

But he said that the witness who was supposed to give a testimony was compelled to miss the hearing.
He then requested that the case be postponed until the next day. Following the consent of the other parties involved in the case, the PEPC, led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, complied with the request. The results of the presidential election are being contested in court by three dissatisfied parties and their candidates.
The LP and Obi, the Peoples Democratic Party and Atiku Abubakar, and the Allied Peoples Movement are the petitioners.  The parties and its candidates then brought the election commission, the president, his vice president, Kassim Shetima, and their party, the APC, to court in separate petitions.

On June 23, they had finished presenting their case, clearing the way for the respondents to present their arguments in court.