Atiku Abubakar
PEPC rejects 13 out of 27 PDP witnesses, dual citizenship case against Tinubu
The Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC)strikes out witness statements made by 13 out of 27 witnesses called by the People’s Democratic party(PDP)
Given the provisions of paragraph 45(6) of the 1st schedule of the Electoral Act, the witness statements on oath ought to have been front-loaded when the petitioners filed their petition.
This has therefore rendered their statement incompetent.
Order 3 rules 2 of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules, which allows for the filing of a list of additional witnesses after pleading does not apply.
The provisions of the Federal High Court Rules are subject to the provisions of the 1st schedule of the Electoral Act.
Witness deposition filed and not listed at the time of filing the petition cannot be countenance by the court.
The tribunal also dismissed the suit by Atiku seeking to disqualify President Bola Tinubu on the ground of dual citizenship.
Abubakar, Peter Obi of the Labour Party , and the Allied Peoples Movement are challenging Tinubu’s victory in the presidential election.
The former vice-president had told the tribunal that Tinubu ought not to have contested the election owing to his dual citizenship of Nigeria and Guinea.
Atiku made the claim in his response to Tinubu’s preliminary objection filed before the presidential election petition court in Abuja.
Shortly after Tinubu was declared the president-elect, there were reports that he allegedly obtained citizenship of Guinea.
The allegation generated varied reactions on social media, with many arguing that having dual citizenship bars Tinubu from contesting elections in the country.
Tinubu’s relationship with Alpha Conde, the former president of Guinea, has also come under scrutiny.
Ousmane Yara, a Guinean ambassador to the African Union (AU) for Agenda 2063, had said Tinubu was recognised by Conde as a special envoy.
