3rd July, 2019
The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal on Wednesday refused to grant a request by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the last presidential election, Atiku Abubakar opportunity to re-argue a motion by the All Progressives Congress (APC), which sought dismissal of the petition.
Last month, the Tribunal had ruled that the PDP and Atiku had no response to the motion by the APC, on the grounds that they failed to file a counter-affidavit.
The PDP and Atiku had asked the court to set aside the ruling and allow them to formally respond to the motion, a request the tribunal rejected in a ruling on Wednesday.
The tribunal also adopted the schedule of proceedings agreed by parties on Monday, and adjourned till Thursday for the commencement of formal trial – hearing of the petition.
The petitioners are expected to call their first set of witnesses on Thursday, according to The Nation.