The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja has said that all applications will be determined during the next pre-hearing session.
Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani who leads the five-member panel of Justices, disclosed this when the pre-hearing session resumed on Tuesday shifted the petition by the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) against President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu to Thursday.
The tribunal took the pre-hearing of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar where Atiku’s counsel criticized the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for declaring Bola Ahmed Tinubu winner of the presidential election in the wee hours.
Justice Haruna Tsammani ordered the party and all respondents in the petition to identify major issues for consideration during the hearing.
The INEC announced the presidential election results in which Tinubu was declared the winner at about 4 am on March 1.
Uche, who was reacting to the presidential election petition tribunal’s clarification that Atiku’s petition would be heard by 2 pm on Thursday and not 2 am, said everybody knows the people who wait till 2 am or 4 am to make announcements.
Atiku and his counterparts of the Labour Party (LP), Action Peoples Party (APP), and Allied Peoples Movement (APM), are asking for the declaration of Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the 25 February 2023 election.
One of the petitioners, the Action Alliance (AA) on Monday withdrew its petition against the APC and its candidate.
Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani who leads the five-member panel of Justices including Justice Moses Ugo, Justice Bolaji-Yusuf, Justice Stephen Adah, and Justice Abbah Mohammed, told the parties that justice will be done, and urged counsel to cooperate with the Tribunal to ensure that the petitions are decided speedily.
He said APM had, through its lawyers O.A. Atoyebi (SAN) and S.A.T. Abubakar Esq, informed the tribunal that it had responded to pre-hearing questions raised by respondents (INEC, APC, Tinubu, Shettima and Masari) in its petition.
