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APC, PDP To Present About 1,000 Witnesses Over Ganduje’s Election

*Electoral body has 29 witnesses

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As the legal tussle continues over the actual winner of the 2019 governorship election in Kano State, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the major opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are expected to present about 1,000 witnesses to prove or disprove the election of Governor Abdullah Umar Ganduje at the ongoing governorship election petitions tribunal.

The PDP in Kano said it would call 378 witnesses to testify before the tribunal sitting in Kano.  

The lead counsel to the petitioners, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), stated this during the pre-trial conference held at the venue of the tribunal.

On its part, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which is the first respondent had through its lead counsel, Ahmed Saka (SAN), said it had 29 witnesses to present before the tribunal.  

The second and third respondents, Governor Ganduje and the APC respectively, through their lead counsels, Offiong Offiong (SAN), and Barrister Christopher Oshiomhole, disclosed that they had 203 and 300 witnesses to testify before the tribunal.

Earlier, the petitioner’s lead counsel had filed a motion seeking to “correct some errors” in the list of witnesses he presented before the tribunal.  

He argued that the correction was neither an attempt to amend, alter the facts and prayers in the petition, nor seeking for more time to file additional witnesses, but rather to correct some errors in the list of witnesses that already had their statement on oath before the tribunal.  

The respondents, however, objected to the application, arguing that the list of witnesses and statements on oath of witnesses were an integral part of the petition and must accompany the petition the way it was filed.  

They held that any attempt to amend the list of witnesses would be regarded as an attempt to amend the petition itself, the time of which had elapsed.