‘I need three weeks to produce 100 witnesses to prove case against Tinubu,’ Atiku Abubakar tells presidential election petition tribunal

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general elections, Atiku Abubakar, has requested three weeks to call 100 witnesses to prove his case against the President-elect, Bola Tinubu.

Atiku and his party, at the proceedings through his legal team led by Chief Chris Uche, SAN, before the Presidential Election Petition Court, sitting in Abuja, on Saturday, May 20, 2023, revealed that among those he has lined up to testify in the matter would include expert witnesses and those he would ask the court to compel to mount the witness box.

“We may not even exhaust the three weeks because the issues are getting narrower,” the lawyer said.

The President-elect, Bola Tinubu of the All Progressive Congress has said he would only require two days to discredit Atiku’s case.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), through its lawyer, Abubakar Mahmood, SAN, also told the court that it would only call two witnesses.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) through its lawyer, Mr Solomon Umoh, SAN, noted that it would also need two days to produce 39 witnesses.

Tinubu’s lead counsel at the proceedings, Mr Roland Otaro, SAN, further disclosed that the 39 witnesses will not exclude other persons he may apply to be subpoenaed to appear before the court.

Atiku further requested the court to declare him the winner of the 2023 presidential election, having secured the second-highest number of lawful votes cast at the election.