HDP Moves To Present Two Witnesses Against Buhari’s Re-Election

The Hope Democratic Party (HDP) and its presidential candidate in the February 23 election, Chief Ambrose Oworu, yesterday told the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal that they would call only two witnesses to prove their petition against the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Counsel to Owuru and the HDP, Chukwu Njoku, stated this shortly after it adopted the petitioners pre-hearing information sheet filed on May 5, 2019.
Njoku further told the five member presidential panel headed by Justice Mohammed Garba that, “Subject to the convenience of the court they would be needing two days to establish their petition against the election of Buhari.
Counsel to President Buhari (1st respondent), Chief Alex Izinyon, SAN, while also adopting his client’s pre-hearing information sheet filed on May 7, asked the tribunal for 7 days to call two witnesses and unspecified number of subpoenaed witnesses.
However, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), through its lead counsel, Yunus Usman, SAN, asked for two days to call its only witness, just as counsel to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Akin Olujimi told the tribunal that seven days would be sufficient for them to call just two alongside some other subpoenaed witnesses against the HDP’s petition.
Meanwhile, the tribunal had fixed July 10 for hearing in a motion filed by the petitioners seeking to amend the statement of oath of the original witnesses to be called in support of the petition.
Justice Garba set the motion for hearing on the above date after Buhari, INEC and APC requested for time to respond to the motion, which they all said was served on them in court this morning.