A suit challenging the victory of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu during the February 25 presidential election was on Wednesday clsed by the the petitioner, Allied Peoples Movement (APM), after calling one witness to support its petition.
APM’s candidate, Chichi Ojei, had polled 25,961 votes during the February 25 presidential election.
It was gathered that the party was challenging that Tinubu was improperly sponsored the All Progressives Congress (APC), since he nominated Kashim Shettima as his vice-presidential candidate for the election, claiming that at the time Shettima accepted to be APC’s vice-presidential candidate, he was still the party’s candidate for Borno central senatorial district.
Meanwhile, at the court session on Wednesday, the party called its sole witness, Aisha Abubakar, APM’s assistant welfare officer.
Gideon Idiagbonya, APM counsel, while leading in evidence, Abubakar adopted her witness statement on oath.
Under cross-examination by Kemi Pinheiro, INEC lawyer, the witness admitted that she cannot confirm when the electoral commission received the notice of substitution of the candidate for Borno central.
On his part, the All Progressives Congress (APC) counsel, Lateef Fagbemi, presented a certified true copy of a supreme court judgement dismissing a suit filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against Shettima’s alleged dual nomination while confirming the authenticity of the supreme court verdict and was subsequently admitted in evidence despite an objection by the APM’s lawyer.
However, Tinubu and Shettima’s counsel, Wole Olanipekun, made the witness read several relevant paragraphs of the supreme court verdict, whereby the excerpts of the court’s judgment were to establish the frivolity of the petition challenging Tinubu’s election on the grounds of double nomination.
Haruna Tsammani, chairman of the panel, after listening to all parties in the suit, ordered the respondents to file their final written addresses within 10 days from Wednesday.
He also ordered the APM to file its written address within seven days after the respondents’ filing, while adjourning further hearing in the suit to July 14.