Atiku, PDP ambush court with subpoenaed witnesses, APC, INEC, Tinubu kick

The decision of the former Vice President, Abubakar Atiku to bring subpoenaed witnesses into the hearing of his petition on Wednesday unsettled the Independent National Electoral Commission, President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress.

The trio vehemently opposed the introduction of the witnesses, saying they cannot testify until June 8.

Atiku who was the Peoples Democratic Party candidate in the disputed February 25 presidential election, had called his first subpoenaed witness at the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPEC) to tender some sensitive documents but the move was shot down.

INEC, Tinubu and APC through their individual lawyers objected to the taking of the evidence of the witness who was said to be an Adhoc staff of INEC.

At Wednesday’s proceedings, lead counsel to the PDP, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, after the admittance of exhibits from 10 local governments in Kogi State, called in one of his listed witnesses who gave evidence on how INEC failed to transmit results real-time “as promised”.

Shortly after the end of the cross-examination of the witness, Ndubuisi Nwobu from Anambra State, Uche informed the court that the petitioners have three subpoenaed witnesses and went to call the first one, an Adhoc staff of INEC.

After the witness entered the witness box, counsel for INEC, Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, objected to the hearing of the evidence of the witness.

He informed the court that he was only served few hours earlier with the statement of the witness and would have to study the statement in order to do a thorough cross-examination.

His position was shared by Tinubu’s lawyer, Chief Akin Olujimi, SAN, and APC’s lawyer, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, who added that he was only served 20 minutes earlier with the statement and had not seen what it contains.

But Uche argued that with a subpoenaed witness, they were not supposed to front-load his statement to the respondents, adding that there was nothing strange in the statement of the witness to warrant an adjournment.

Uche pleaded with the court to take at least one of the subpoenaed witnesses so as to judiciously make use of the time allotted it because the adjournment would eat into their allotted time.

Presiding Justice of the Court, Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, proposed standing down the trial for 30 minutes to enable respondents look at the documents and cross-examine the first subpoenaed witness.

INEC, however, insisted that the witness could be taken and should not be taken because as the witness “is said to be an Adhoc staff of the Commission,” he would have to go and look at INEC’s records to enable him confirm the status of the witness and prepare adequately.

Following the respondent’s insistence, Uche urged the court to adjourn till tomorrow for the calling of the three subpoenaed witnesses.