BEVERLY HILLS, July 19, (THEWILL) – The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal has turned down the request made by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar for more time to conclude their case.
This was after PDP lawyer, Chris Uche asked for more time from the Tribunal as it presented more documents such as Expert Report of INEC’s Electoral Information Systems as revealed by Whistle Blowers Website, Downloaded documents from the website, Certificate of Compliance and Executive Summary for the 11 states under review.
The petitioners had only on Thursday received from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) a heap of documents up to 55 cartons and wanted more time.
The Tribunal had earlier at the pre-hearing session granted the petitioners ten days to conclude its case and the ten days expire today, Friday.
Uche couched his request for more time as “a modification of the pre-hearing report” in which 10 days period was allocated to the petitioners to present their case and six days for each of the respondents to present their defence.
He said, “Today may appear to be our last day. But my lords, we are seeking a modification of the pre-hearing report.
“Today should not be construed as our last day.
“We asking if my lords can give us tomorrow, Monday or Tuesday for us to conclude.”
Responding, Buhari’s lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), insisted that should the court grant the “extension of time” it should be across the board for all the three respondents – INEC, Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Mohammed Garba ruled that the tribunal will continue with proceedings till later in the day to enable the petitioners conclude their case.
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