Paul Annanaba, SAN, on behalf of the party and Obi, submitted Form EC8D(a) to the Presidential Election Petition Court as part of the evidence in support of the petition protesting the results of the February 25 elections.

The LP and its candidate, Peter Obi, are contesting the manner in which Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress was declared the victor of the presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

INEC, Tinubu, Kassim Shettima, and the APC are the first through fourth defendants in the lawsuit.

Wednesday, all respondents, through their legal representatives, consented to the release of national results for all states and the FCT.

The five-member PEPC panel led by Justice Haruna Tsammani admitted the national document as evidence in Obi's petition when the respondents did not object.

As evidence in support of their petition against Tinubu's return, the petitioners submitted form EC8Cs from 13 states: Bayelsa, Benue, Cross-river, Ebonyi, Edo, Lagos, Niger, Ondo, Oyo, Rivers, Sokoto, Ekiti, and Delta.

Form EC8C is used to compile election results at the level of local government. On this document, the results recorded at the ward level are entered. The respondents, however, all objected through their counsel to the admissibility of the form EC8Cs. They informed the court that they would elucidate their objections in their concluding written statements.

The court, however, acknowledged the forms as evidence and designated them as exhibits. The subsequent proceedings on the petition have been postponed until Thursday, June 8, 2023.

Objection to the subpoenaed witness of the PDP

On Wednesday, the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate from the previous election, Atiku Abubakar, summoned their first subpoenaed witness before the Presidential Election Petition Court.

In a petition bearing the designation CA/PEPC/05/2023 Atiku and the PDP contest the outcome of the presidential election that resulted in Tinubu's election as president.

ALSO READ: Peter Obi’s Legal Team Humiliates INEC As Tribunal Admitted Evidence

Chris Uche, SAN, counsel for the PDP, informed the court at the resumption of the hearing that the petitioners intend to summon their first subpoenaed witness, an ad hoc employee of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

However, counsel for the case's respondents, INEC, Tinubu, and the APC, objected to the witness's testimony being taken.

As soon as the witness entered the witness box, and just before he could take the oath, A.B. Mahmoud, SAN, counsel to INEC, objected to the witness's hearing.

He informed the court that he had just received the witness's statement this morning and would therefore need to review it in order to conduct a thorough cross-examination.

Similarly, Tinubu's attorney, Akin Olujimi SAN, and the APC's attorney, Lateef Fagbemi SAN, opposed the petitioners' motion.

In response, Uche argued that the witness's statement was not peculiar enough to necessitate a postponement.

He appealed with the court to permit at least one of the subpoenaed witnesses to use their allotted time effectively.

The chairman of the five-member panel of PEPC, Justice Tsammani, proposed pausing the trial for thirty minutes so that the respondents could scrutinize the documents and cross-examine the first subpoenaed witness.

ALSO READ: The presidential election court accepts result documents from 17 states from Obi.

However, INEC's legal counsel insisted that the witness cannot be questioned on Wednesday because the witness "is said to be an Ad-hoc staff member of the Commission," and as such, he would need to review INEC's records in order to adequately prepare.

In response to the respondents' assertions, Uche urged the court to postpone the summoning of the three subpoenaed witnesses until tomorrow, June 8.

Earlier, the PDP and Atiku summoned their eleventh witness, Anambra PDP chairman Ndubuisi Nwobu, to the stand.

During cross-examination by counsel for the APC, Lateef Fagbemi SAN, the witness told the court that the results were contested at lesser levels before they reached the state level.

He added that they had to compile the results because they had no other options.

When asked if he included that in his sworn witness statement, he stated that it was impossible to include everything that occurred.

On Thursday, June 8, 2023, the court will also continue hearing the PDP and Atiku's petition.