Presidential election tribunal bans use of mobile phones

The Justice Haruna Tsammani-led panel on Tuesday said the court might subsequently disallow phones into the courtroom.

The judge stressed the court wa acting with reason, adding that the “security of everyone is important,” among other justifications.

While reading the pre-hearing report, which included the declaration of the court’s decision to consolidate all three surviving petitions to be heard as one, the tribunal Chairman dismissed the objections raised against the merger by the Tinubu, the APC, the vice-president-elect, Kashim Shettima, and Kabir Masari, all respondents in the case.

The court maintained that the demand for justice supports the consolidation to aid the speedy dispensation of justice.

It held that the three petitions all speak to the same subject matter being the 2023 election and the return of the president-elect, Tinubu.

Furthermore, the court announced that the hearing of the petition would commence on May 30, 2023.

On the subject of time to present its case, the court directed Obi and the LP to do so within three weeks, against their proposed seven weeks within which they had planned to prove their case against Tinubu through 50 witnesses.

It assigned five days each to the INEC, APC and Tinubu to defend their case.Obi, through his counsel, Awa Kalu, SAN, had requested seven weeks to establish their case against the disputed election.

Obi, through his counsel, Awa Kalu, SAN, had requested seven weeks to establish their case against the disputed election.

Justice Tsammani, however, ordered Obi to open his petition for hearing on May 30 and end the same on June 23.

As in the case of LP and Obi, both parties did not object to the duly signed and certified documents by INEC but reserved the right to object to other documents.

Likewise, they both disagreed with an out-of-court settlement agreement and subscribed to the hearing of the petition.

More so, according to the pre-hearing report by the court, the PDP and Atiku have ten interlocutory applications with nine preliminary objections by the 1st, 2nd and 3rd respondents.

While the APM is to adopt its brief of argument on July 3, 2023, the PDP and Atiku are to adopt theirs on August 8, 2023.

The PDP and its candidate, Atiku, had informed the court of their arrangement to prove their case through 100 witnesses; the court granted them three weeks to do so.