Tribunal To Hold Inaugural Sitting On Atiku’s Petition On Wednesday

Atiku Abubakar

According to a report by PUNCH Metro, the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal will hold its inaugural sitting on Wednesday. According to The PUNCH, this was confirmed on Tuesday.

As earlier exclusively reported by The PUNCH on Monday that the notice for the preliminary sitting of the tribunal would be issued this week, the PEPT issued the notice on Monday.

The PUNCH confirmed on Tuesday that the notice had been served on all the parties to the petitions, including the Independent National Electoral Commission on Tuesday.

Others that were said to have been served through their lawyers included the All Progressives Congres‎s, President Muhammadu Buhari, the PDP and Atiku.

The newspaper also learnt that the five-man panel that will hear the Peoples Democratic Party‎ and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar’s petition, is to be led by the President of the Court of Appeal.

The tribunal has three other petitions by various political parties and their candidates ‎to hear.

The PUNCH had reported on Monday that the PEPT ‎was this week expected to issue the notice for the pre-hearing session on the petition filed by the PDP and Atiku.

The tribunal will, during the pre-hearing session which the Electoral Act provides must be completed within 14 days, fix “clear dates” for the hearing of the petition.

The five-man tribunal has 180 days period from the date of filing of the petition on March 18 to hear and deliver its judgment in the case in which the petitioners said they had assembled about 400 witnesses to testify.