The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, on Wednesday, sought an adjournment of his petition challenging President Bola Tinubu’s victory.
Mr Obi’s lawyer, Awa Kalu, informed the five-member panel of the court headed by Haruna Tsammani, that due to “an unexpected development,” he would be seeking for an adjournment until Thursday.
Mr Kalu, a law professor and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), further disclosed that two of the legal team members took ill.
“I am constrained to pray for an adjournment until tomorrow (Thursday),” Mr Kalu urged the court.
Lawyers to the respondents in the suit – Wole Olanipekun for Mr Tinubu; Lateef Fagbemi, All Progressives Congress (APC) and Abubakar Mahmoud for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not oppose Mr Kalu’s request for an adjournment.
However, the chair of the panel, Mr Tsammani reminded Mr Obi’s legal team that they were eating into their allotted time.
“If you ask for an adjournment, you are eating into your time,” Mr Tsammani said.
Subsequently, the suit was adjourned until Thursday for further hearing.
Background
At the pre-hearing sessions of the court, Mr Obi indicated that he would be calling 50 witnesses in aid of his case.
The Labour Party candidate requested for seven weeks to substantiate his claims against Mr Tinubu, INEC and the APC.
But the court pruned it to three weeks.
At the resumption of proceedings on Tuesday, Mr Obi called his first witness.
The witness, Lawrence Nwakaeti, testified on Mr Tinubu’s alleged illicit drug trafficking in the US.
With two days gone by, Mr Obi is left with 19 days to prove his case at the court.
