Presidential Election Petition Tribunal Throws Out 10 Out Of 13 Witnesses Brought By Peter Obi
In Abuja’s Presidential Election Petition Court, the statements and evidence provided by 10 out of the 13 witnesses called by the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, were not accepted. This decision was announced by Haruna Tsammani, the presiding judge of the five-member panel, during his ruling on Mr. Obi and his party’s petition contesting President Bola Tinubu’s election victory.
According to PREMIUM TIMES NIGERIA, At the time of submitting this report, the judge is currently in the process of delivering the verdict. He has indicated that the sworn testimonies of the 10 witnesses who were summoned to testify in the case are deemed inadequate and cannot be considered by the court. The reason behind this ruling is that these statements were not submitted alongside the initial petition within the prescribed 21-day period for petitioners to file their case.
While addressing the objection raised by Mr. Tinubu and other respondents to the petition, Mr. Tsammani, who presided over the matter, determined that since the witness statements provided under oath were deemed ineffectual, the 10 witnesses themselves were also considered unfit to testify in this particular case.
Mr Tsammani ruled that “They are therefore not the witnesses of this court.” PREMIUM TIMES NIGERIA, reported that he pointed out that the petitioners had knowledge of the legal requirement regarding the submission of sworn witness statements, yet they proceeded to present 10 witnesses without having their respective sworn statements on oath filed alongside the initial petition, in violation of this provision.
According to Mr. Tsammani, in accordance with the Nigerian constitution’s Section 285, Section 137(7) of the Electoral Act 2022, and related provisions, it is mandatory for all witness statements made under oath to be submitted concurrently with the petition. He also cited a precedent set by the Supreme Court, which established that once the 21-day timeframe for filing an election petition has expired, no alterations or amendments can be made to the petition’s content.
He went on to emphasize that after the specified deadline has passed, it is not permissible to submit any supplementary sworn statements because this would deprive the respondents of the chance to provide their responses to the court. Consequently, he declined to accept the evidence presented by the 10 witnesses who failed to comply with this requirement. Among the total of 13 witnesses, the judge clarified that only three were considered “their witnesses” whose sworn statements were properly included with the initial petition.
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