The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, has reacted after the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, requested seven weeks to call 50 witnesses to prove his case against the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
OsunDaily News reported that the request was made on Saturday during the continuation of the pre-hearing case before the presidential election tribunal headed by Justice Haruna Tsammani.
Peter Obi and the Labour Party intend to present 50 witnesses to court who will testify for 30 minutes in court, excluding the time for any electronic demonstration of evidence.
Their lawyer, Awa Kalu (SAN) announced this during the pre-hearing session in the petition on Saturday.
Explaining the reason behind the request, Kalu said his clients will require seven weeks to present their case because they are still experiencing some hiccups in their dealings with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He said the petitioners are yet to conduct the court-ordered forensic examination of the BVAS devices used for the last presidential election and yet to receive some of the documents requested from INEC.
Reacting via Twitter, Keyamo recalled saying that the election Petition Tribunal will not instantly determine the outcome of the election before May 29th because the opposition will need more time to prove their case.
However, he said the process is gradually unfolding and in the fullness of time, the truths will be separated from fantasies.
He tweeted, “More than a week ago, I tried to educate some of those calling for the ‘instant’ determination of the Presidential Election Petitions before May 29th that it is even the Petitioners that would need more time to prove their cases.
“Shockingly, some supposedly ‘learned’ fellows goaded the mob to believe otherwise. Now, they can see the process as it unfolds IN REALITY. In the fullness of time, we shall separate the truths from the fantasies”
