In a unanimous decision, a five-member panel of the court led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, overruled objections brought by the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to the merging of the cases.
The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) has ordered the Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to present their joint petition within three weeks.
PEPC, while sitting in Abuja on Tuesday, merged three separate lawsuits seeking to overturn the outcome of the 2023 presidential election.
In a unanimous decision, a five-member panel of the court led by Justice Haruna Tsammani overruled objections of the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
They had requested that the cases should be merged.
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The court merged the cases as they all related to the same election.
It set May 30 as the date for Labour Party, LP candidate Peter Obi to file his lawsuit against the outcome of the presidential election.
Five Days To Respond
Despite the fact that Obi earlier asked for seven weeks to present his evidence through 50 witnesses, the court reduced the time frame to three weeks in its verdict.
It gave the INEC, Tinubu, and the Vice President-elect, Senator Kashim Shettima, five days each to respond to the appeal.
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Similarly, the court granted Kabiru Masari, the fourth respondent in the case, three days to defend himself.
The court emphasised that the parties will file final briefs of argument on August 5 in order for it to set a date for judgment.
Aside Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who finished second in the polls, and Obi of the Labour Party, LP, who finished third, the Allied Peoples Movement, APM, also filed a petition to contest the presidential election results.
Though five petitions were initially submitted to challenge Tinubu’s election victory, the Action Alliance, AA, abandoned its lawsuit on May 8, while the Action Peoples Party, APP, followed suit two days later.
Meanwhile, the Justice Tsammani-led panel hinted that on the next adjourned date, it may prohibit both lawyers and members of the public from entering the courtroom with mobile phones.
