All the three cases against President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu are to be consolidated by the Presidential Election Petition Court.
This disposition was arrived at by the five-man panel headed by Justice Haruna Tsammani at Saturday’s hearing of the petition suit by the Peoples Democratic Party candidate Abubakar Atiku in Abuja. The PEPC hinged its decision on Paragraph 50 of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act, which gives it power to merge the entire petition. The Independent National Electoral Commission bought into the proposal to merge all the cases.
Speaking on the proposition Lawyer to the PDP candidate Chris Uche, SAN, said there need to be a consultation with all the parties involved.
“My lords, we will not say that we have not looked at it, but perhaps it may require consultation with the other petitioners.
“We, therefore, ask for a stand down or an adjournment so that we can explore the modalities since this is like a marriage which is a union between two consenting adults,” Uche, SAN, added.
The Panel agreed with him and subsequently adjourned till Monday May 22.
The PDP, Labour Party and APM are challenging INEC’s declaration of Tinubu as President-elect.
