The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) declared on Monday that it would present one witness to challenge the legitimacy of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu.
OsunDaily News recall that Tinubu was the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 presidential election.
The APM’s lawyer, Mr. S. Abubakar on Monday informed the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja that while they are planning on presenting just one witness, they would produce sufficient documentary evidence to bolster their case against the President-elect.
He mentioned that key parties had reached an agreement on some procedures for the hearing, such as the time allocated for questioning witnesses.
Star witnesses will be allowed 20 minutes for testimony, followed by a 25-minute cross-examination, and a 5-minute re-examination.
Abubakar further disclosed that it was agreed that a list of documents to be relied upon must be exchanged, and expert witness reports should be filed and served at least 48 hours before the hearing.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), APC, and the 5th respondent, Aminu Masari, all expressed their intentions to bring their witnesses.
The crux of the APM’s argument revolves around the withdrawal of Ibrahim Masari, originally nominated as the APC’s Vice-Presidential candidate.
They argue that this move invalidated Tinubu’s candidacy, creating a three-week gap before Tinubu replaced Masari with Senator Kashim Shettima.
The APM believes that at the time of Shettima’s nomination, Tinubu was no longer constitutionally eligible to nominate a running mate.
They state that Masari’s initial nomination, followed by his withdrawal, invalidated the joint ticket principle, as per the constitution.
APM seeks to have the court rule Shettima unqualified to run as Vice-Presidential candidate during the election, thereby nullifying all votes for Tinubu and rescinding his Certificate of Return.
Furthermore, they ask the court to declare the candidate with the second highest number of valid votes as the winner of the election.
