The Presidential Election Petition Court has ordered the consolidation of the three surviving petitions before it to ensure speedy hearing and determination of cases challenging the outcome of the 2023 presidential election won by Boka Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress.
The order is contained in the pre-hearing report read by the Court marking the official end of the pre-hearing session, with May 30, 2023, now set for the start of actual hearing.
The Court said the consolidation of the the petitions of Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party is in the interest of justice and as provided in paragraph 50 of the first schedule of the Electoral Act.
The Presidential Election Petition Court has also given three weeks beginning from May 30 to June 23 to the Labour Party Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to prove his case against the outcome of the presidential election.
The Court also said in order to ensure speedy hearing of the petition, there will be no oral examination of witnesses and that only the adoption of witness statements will be required. For star (or expert) witness, 30 minutes shall be allowed for evidence in chief while 20 minutes will be allocated for cross examination, and five minutes for re-examination.
The Presidential Election Petition Court has also scheduled August 5 for counsel to all parties involved in the PeterObi petition to adopt their addresses indicating an end of hearing.
According to the schedule, the Presidential Election Petition Court is expected to hold proceedings from Monday to Saturday each week until the completion of hearing in the petition.
