The Edo State election petition tribunal on Friday disclosed that both the petitioners and the defendants at the tribunal would be calling 290 witnesses during the hearing of the petition.
Daily Trust reports that the petitioners in the case include the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), its candidate, Asue Ighodalo and five other political parties, 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, disclosed 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 harmonised proposal for pre-hearing conference.
According to him, the parties shall only call witnesses whose statements on oath have been frontloaded and subpoenaed witnesses where necessary.
He explained that the time frame for the examination of witnesses, with 40 minutes allocated for examination-in-chief for each star witness, 30 minutes for cross-examination by the petitioners, and 20 minutes for cross-examination by each respondent.
Other agreements reached by the parties include the allocation of 10 minutes for re-examination of each star witness and 25 minutes for examination-in-chief for other ordinary witnesses.
He said the parties may call expert witnesses as indicated in their pre-hearing answers.
The tribunal chairman explained that all pleading documents shall be rendered and admitted by the tribunal while objections thereto shall be filled separately during final addresses.
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.
INEC had declared the APC candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo, winner of the September 21, 2024 governorship election in Edo.
Okpebholo polled 291,667 votes to defeat his closet rival, Ighodalo, of the PDP who scored 247,274 votes.
Dissatisfied with the declaration, the PDP and six other parties filed petitions at the tribunal, challenging the declaration of Okpbholo as winner.
(Daily Trust)
