The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal on Wednesday adjourned till Sept. 12, hearing of the petition filed by Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) challenging the victory of President Goodluck Jonathan in the April 16, 2011 presidential election.
Justice Mohammad Garba, acting chairman of the tribunal stated this in his ruling in Abuja, after giving a review report of the pre-hearing session of the petition which commenced on May 6.
He added that once the hearing of the petition commenced, it would run from Monday through Saturday everyday without an adjournment until the case was determined.
This, he said, was to meet up with the stipulated time for hearing the case as provided for by the constitution and the Electoral Act.
The Electoral Act and the constitution provides that all petitions regarding elections must be heard and concluded within 180 days from the commencement of the first pre-hearing session.
The pre- hearing session is the preliminaries before the commencement of substantive trial and the hearing of the petition proper.
Garba said that the petitioner would be given a period of ten days to present and defend its petition during the hearing sessions while the respondents would have five days each, to present their defence to the petition.
He further said that each of the respondents would be given five minutes to cross examine the witnesses for the petitioner while the petitioner would be given same amount of time to cross examine the witnesses for the respondents.
Justice Hassan Liman (SAN), counsel to INEC, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that they were comfortable with the tribunal`s ruling and the arrangements.
``We do not have any problem, we are comfortable, their lordship order is an order and we are going to work diligently to ensure that we meet up with the targeted time,’’ Liman said.
Justice Demian Dodo (SAN), Counsel to President Jonathan also affirmed his readiness to work in line with the tribunal`s ruling.
The tribunal had in an earlier sitting on Aug. 6, dismissed CPC`s application asking it to declare retired Maj-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari its candidate at the April 16 presidential election, as winner of the election.
The party had made the request on the ground that INEC was not cooperating with it, stressing that the commission had refused to grant it access to the Biometric Data Capturing Machine used in the elections as ordered by the court.
The tribunal in clarifying its position on the order made by the suspended President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, on May 24, told the petitioner that the order was not an express permission.
It added that the order was not for the party to “take copies” of any of such electoral materials, noting however that it could only be allowed to inspect the materials.
It, therefore, authorised INEC not to allow the petitioner to take copy of any of the ballot papers used in the conduct of the presidential poll.
The petitioner had expected that the word access as ordered by the court should include granting its forensic experts, access to all the Biometric data pertaining to the presidential election by INEC. (NAN)
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