By Olugbenga Ige

The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal has adjourned the petition of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, till Wednesday, May 17, 2023.

Naija News reports that the tribunal panel of judges gave the ruling on Wednesday during the hearing of Obi’s petition challenging the victory of Bola Tinubu in the February 25 presidential election.

Earlier, the lead counsel to Obi and Peter Obi, Livy Uzoukwu (SAN) stated that since there are outstanding processes yet to be filed, it would be better to adjourn the case to Wednesday in order for the tribunal to start properly.

Uzoukwu added that the adjournment would be ripe for hearing so as to ensure no party delays any further.

He also stated they would further use the next days to agree on documents in contention and controversial documents, adding that this would hasten the proceeding as the court would be able to start properly.

LP’s lead counsel, Levi Uzoukwu (SAN), has requested for the adjournment of the motions on their petition to Wednesday next week to enable all non-contentious processes to be filed.

Lawyers to INEC, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN); Tinubu and Shettima, Wole Olanipekun (SAN); APC, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) have all confirmed that the agreement has been reached to harmonise on documents to be allowed for the main hearing.

Counsel to the APC and Tinubu said they need Monday and Tuesday to file all replies and ensure everything is ready for abduction.

Following the adoption of the motion, the judges adjourned the hearing of the petition to Wednesday, 17th May 2023.

One of the judges further commented that streamlining these documents by the parties would make the court a whole lot faster and easier and thanked all parties for coming to this conclusion.

He further stated that the streamlining of the documents will help conclude the court case much earlier than expected.