Peter Obi and the Labour Party on Friday called their witness via subpoenaed to give both oral and video evidence before the court.
The witness Lucky Obewo Isawodo a senior reporter/editor for Channels Television was in court in response to two sets of subpoena issued on the Director/CEO for Channels TV on May 30, 2023, and June 6, 2023, respectively.
Respective Counsels for INEC, Kemi Pinhero and Bola Tinubu, Akin Olujimi, objected to the admissibility of the witness statement and the competence of the witness on grounds that the statement and evidence should have accompanied the petition when it was filed.
They also made reference to paragraphs 35 and 36 of the petition, which stipulated that petitioners would tender video evidence as an exhibit, which should have been admitted before now.
The Counsel for APC, Afolabi Fashanu aligned himself to the submissions of other respondents.
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Counsel for Obi and Labour Party, Jibrin Okutepa urged the court to discountenance the objections of the respondents stating that once a subpoena is issued to an individual, the person becomes competent to testify in court.
He also stated that their objections amounts to technicalities taken too far.
The five-man panel, led by Justice Haruna Tsamani, reserved ruling on the competence of the witness till judgment.
When hearing commenced, Jibrin Okutepa told the court that the witness has two flash drives dated May 30, 2023, and June 6, 2023, which contains evidence of live interviews with the chairman of INEC, Abubakar Mahmoud and another with that of Festus Okoye, the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee of INEC.
Although the respondents objected to the admittance of the flash drives, the court went on to admit it as evidence in the matter.
Okutepa however asked that the drives be played in open court to ascertain the evidence mentioned, but Counsel for Tinubu and APC objected to that move on the grounds that they be served the hard drive first to enable them to prepare for cross examination, as playing it will be an infringement on their rights to fair hearing.
However, counsel for INEC, Pinhero agreed that since the evidence is in court, it should be played.
Okutepa, therefore, urged the court to dismiss the respondents objections and play the video evidence, however, the five-man panel of justices urged the petitioners to avail a copy of the evidence to the respondents and the adjourned to Saturday June 10, for continued cross-examination of witnesses.
Editor: Oloyede Oworu
