The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar, still have 74 more witnesses to call to testify at the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Out of the 100 witnesses expected to be called by the opposition party to prove its case, 26 witnesses have so far been examined. Following the emergence of the then-candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, as Nigeria’s president, the PDP challenged the outcome of the February 25 presidential election.
Runner-up Abubakar, a former Vice President, is one of the aggrieved parties before the tribunal, asking the court to nullify Tinubu’s victory. Others include the Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, who came third in the keenly contested election. On May 20, the PDP candidate had indicated his plan to call “no more than 100 witnesses” to the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal.
Counsel to the petitioners, Chris Uche told the court that all the parties had met, considered, and agreed on the number of witnesses, duration, and examination of witnesses. Uche added that though the new time given them to call the witnesses is seven weeks, they would need three weeks since the issues were getting narrower.