Posted by Lanre Adewole, Abuja on
The presidential candidate of the Action Congress (AC) in the April 21 election, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, will testify at the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal in Abuja when hearing begins in his petition challenging the outcome of the poll.
The presidential candidate of the Action Congress (AC) in the April 21 election, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, will testify at the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal in Abuja when hearing begins in his petition challenging the outcome of the poll.
The National Chairman of his party, Chief Bisi Akande, will also be testifying when hearing begins in the said petition, which was jointly filed by Atiku, his running-mate, Senator Ben Obi and the AC.
This scenario was brought about by the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), one of the respondents in the petition, to present the duo to the tribunal, as its star witnesses in its reply to the petition.
Apart from the duo, the electoral commission had also applied to the tribunal to bring in additional 213 witnesses, in defending the allegations leveled against it by the petitioners, over the conduct of the said poll.
The petitioners had accused INEC of deliberate manipulation of the election to favour the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Umaru Yar'Adua, who eventually won the election.
Atiku and his co-petitioners have kicked against the move by INEC to add to its witnesses, while accusing the tribunal of indulging the electoral commission.
The tribunal, a few days ago, had accused the electoral commission of overstepping its bounds.
In a counter-affidavit filed by counsel to the petitioners, Mr. Ricky Tarfa (SAN), to the application to bring in more witnesses by INEC, the petitioners contended that it was irredeemably late for the INEC to bring in the witnesses, which it had all the opportunity to do, when the tribunal granted it more time to reply to the petition.
In a 20-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Regina Okotie-Eboh, the petitioners claimed that 'by listing the first petitioner (Atiku) and the chairman of the third petitioner (AC), Chief Bisi Akande, who are their adversaries, the respondent (INEC) never intended to call the witnesses now attached to their affidavit in support.
Atiku and other petitioners further claimed that, 'The petitioner, having duly responded to the respondents' reply on the 17th of August, 2007, will be greatly prejudiced if the respondents' application to bring in additional 213 witnesses is granted by the court.