The Presidential Election Petition Court has reconvened to proceed with the adoption of the written address presented by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, against the victory of President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the February 25 election.
Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria’s former Vice-President from May 1999 to May 2007, was physically present in court during today’s hearing (Tuesday).
The primary purpose of today’s session is for all parties involved to present and adopt their various arguments, which have already been submitted to the court.
Following the adoption of the written addresses, the court will then proceed to either fix a date for judgment or reserve judgment for a later time.
The petitioners, namely the PDP and Atiku Abubakar, as well as the Labour Party (LP) and its candidate, Peter Obi, are seeking the nullification of President Tinubu’s victory in the February 25 election. They are both requesting to be declared as winners of the election or for a rerun to be conducted.
Each party has submitted their final written addresses, with the last one being President Tinubu’s reply on July 24 in response to Atiku and the PDP’s final written address.
During the proceedings, Peter Obi and the LP presented 13 witnesses, numerous documents, and concluded their case on June 23. Atiku Abubakar and the PDP called 27 witnesses, submitted various documents, and closed their case on the same date.
In response, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) called one witness and presented some documents for Obi and the LP’s petition on July 4. The same witness’s testimony was used for Atiku and the PDP’s petition, and INEC closed its case on July 3.
The counsel representing President Tinubu and his Vice, Kashim Shettima, along with the APC, concluded their defense in both petitions on July 5. While they called one witness and submitted documents, the APC did not present any witnesses in their defense. However, they submitted documents, including court judgments.
All three respondents (INEC, APC, and Tinubu) have urged the court to dismiss the petitions, arguing that the petitioners failed to provide credible evidence to support their cases.
