The Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja has ordered the merger of the cases filed by Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi and the Allied Peoples Movement to challenge Bola Tinubu’s victory as Nigeria’s president-elect.
In a ruling detailing a report of its pre-hearing session on Mr Obi’s petition, on Tuesday, the court ordered a consolidation of the three pending petitions. On allotment of time, the petitioners have 30 minutes each to lead or cross-examine their or adverse parties’ star witnesses. The other witnesses have 20 minutes each to testify and the legal team of the adverse parties will have five minutes each for re-examining them.
The petitioners – Atiku, Mr Obi and APM – are urging the court to nullify Mr Tinubu’s victory owing to alleged rampant malpractices during the conduct of the 25 February presidential election. Worried by time constraint, the chair of the panel, Mr Tsammani, reminded lawyers to parties of the need to consolidate the three pending petitions.