2019 poll: All set as Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal begins hearing in Abuja

All is set for the inaugural hearing of the 2019 Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal which begins today in Abuja.

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, is challenging the results of the election after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) re-elected.

Daily Trust reports that the courtroom is now brimming with lawyers, INEC officials, journalists.

Our reporter also observed that sitting arrangements were made outside the courtroom for observers.

The PDP candidate and other parties are expected to identify and label materials and exhibits used in the conduct of the February 23 presidential election today.

The tribunal, which is sitting at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, may also hear objections and other motions filed over the election in the pre-hearing session.

However, Buhari in his preliminary objection brought by his lead counsel, Wole Olanipekun (SAN), argued that Atiku’s petition cannot be heard at the Presidential Elections Petitions Tribunal.

President Buhari told the tribunal that the grounds for Atiku’s petition which claimed that he was not validly elected in the election and that he was not qualified to contest the election are “conjunctive, thus, rendering them incompetent.”

Details later…