President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) strongly opposed the efforts made by former Vice President Abubakar Atiku to present ad-hoc staff from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as witnesses in his petition challenging Tinubu’s victory in the 2023 presidential election. The objection was raised during the proceedings held at the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) in Abuja.
Atiku had subpoenaed three INEC ad-hoc workers to provide firsthand accounts of their experiences regarding the presidential election held on February 25. He specifically sought their explanations on the transmission and conduct of the election results.
However, Tinubu’s representative, Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN, objected to the use of the witnesses’ sworn statements as evidence in Atiku’s petition. The President and the APC argued that the statements had not been submitted along with the petition, which violated the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.
Olanipekun SAN referred to various legal provisions and requested the Court to reject the witnesses and disregard their statements due to non-compliance with the electoral laws. Prince Lateef Fagbemi SAN, representing the APC, and Abubakar Mahmoud SAN, representing INEC, supported Tinubu’s arguments against the subpoenaed witnesses.
However, Atiku’s lead counsel, Chris Uche SAN, urged the Court to dismiss the objections, claiming they were baseless and intended to delay the proceedings. Uche argued that the witnesses’ statements could not have been submitted along with the petition because they had not been summoned at the time of filing.
While the Court reserved its ruling on the objections, Presiding Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani ordered that the testimony of the three subpoenaed witnesses be heard and that the respondents have the opportunity to cross-examine them.