The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, and five other political parties are among the petitioners in the case, while the defendants are the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and Governor Monday Okpebholo.
The tribunal chairman, Justice Wilfred Ikpochi, revealed this in Benin during the presentation of the pre-hearing reports and scheduling to parties in the petition. He said the 290 witnesses were proposed by the parties in the harmonized proposal for the pre-hearing conference.
He asserts that the parties may only call witnesses whose oaths have been front-loaded and who have been subpoenaed when required. He clarified that the allotted time for witness examination was forty minutes for each star witness’s examination-in-chief, thirty minutes for the petitioners’ cross-examination, and twenty minutes for each respondent’s cross-examination.
The parties also agreed to provide each star witness ten minutes for re-examination and other regular witnesses twenty-five minutes for examination-in-chief. As stated in their pre-hearing responses, he noted the parties are free to bring expert witnesses.
The chairman of the tribunal clarified that all pleading documents will be submitted and accepted by the panel, and objections will be submitted individually during closing remarks.
He stated that all frivolous and unnecessary applications for adjournments shall not be granted by the tribunal as the election petitions are time-bound, adding that on no account should any written address filed by counsel be more than 40 pages.
The judge however adjourned to January 13, 2025 for hearing on the petitions.
