Alex Enumah in Abuja
The prehearing session in the petition filed by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, against the election of President Muhammadu Buhari was stalled on Wednesday to enable the petitioners respond to the bid by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to void the petition.
It was learnt that Atiku and the PDP in a fresh motion are asking the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal to halt the delivery of its ruling in a motion on notice filed by the APC.
The move, it was gathered, was predicated on the grounds that the tribunal had on June 11 allowed the APC to withdraw a motion in which the petitioners have already filed a counter affidavit and went on to adjourn ruling in the other motion they didn’t respond it.
Their argument was that if the court could allow the APC withdraw its motion which a counter affidavit had been filed then the court should equally allow them respond to the motion on notice which they didn’t respond to since the motion was withdrawn on the hearing date without prior notice.
The APC had in the motion on notice filed by its lead counsel, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) on May 15, prayed the tribunal to void and strike out Atiku’s petition on various grounds of alleged irregularities and non-compliance with the Legal Practitioners Act.
