Tribunal: Obi closes case against Tinubu with 13 instead of 50 witnesses, others

… On July 3, INEC begins its defense.

Mr. Peter Obi, a candidate for the Labour Party, LP, who claimed that President Bola Tinubu of the governing All Progressives Congress, APC, had the chance of a vote-rigging scheme in the presidential election that took place on February 25, has now concluded his investigation.

Obi, who finished third in the presidential race, concluded his case after submitting a number of documents and calling a total of 13 witnesses to the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, in Abuja.

He presented the court with a number of exhibits, including polling unit results from 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, and a package of documents containing the total number of Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs, that were gathered in 32 states prior to the 2023 general elections.

In addition to submitting four video exhibits, including one of a press conference where INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu promised that the results of the election would be electronically transmitted to the IReV portal in real-time using the BVAS machines.

Equally tendered was a bundle of papers containing the total number of registered voters in each of the states after

The court also accepted certified true copies of INEC Forms EC40Gs, EC40G1, and EC40GPU, which were reports of various polling places where elections were not held, as additional electoral documents in evidence.

Respondents had objected to the admissibility of every document in evidence, claiming they would explain why in their final written response.

In the meantime, despite the fact that the Petitioners initially informed the court that they would call a total of 50 witnesses to testify in the matter, they ended their case on Friday with the testimony of the 13th witness.