Abba Kabir Yusuf and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have concluded their presentation of evidence in their petition challenging the election of Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
Counsel to the petitioners, Maliki Kuliya Umar, announced the this after presenting 34 out of the 378 witnesses that they proposed to present before the tribunal. But the petitioners tendered over 1,040 exhibits.
Umar said the closure was in line with the pre-hearing agreement reached with all the parties in the case during which 14 days were allotted to PDP and Yusuf to present their case.
Speaking to reporters, Umar said the petitioners were happy with the witnesses they presented so far. “Our case is quite simple, all we are saying is that the so called inconclusive election was illegal. Most of the things that we have claimed have not been contradicted by the respondents. So, we are quite happy that at the end of the day we are sure that we are going to come out victorious,”
On the other hand, coordinator of the legal team of Dr. Ganduje, M. A. Lawan, said the number of witnesses presented by the petitioners was an indication that their allegations were not correct, and that it simplified the case for the respondents. He said, “at the end of the day, we may not even call any witness because nothing has been established. I assure you nothing has been established here. And as we have been saying, the elections of both 9th and 23rd March were free and fair.”
Earlier in her ruling, the presiding judge, Justice Halima S. Muhammad, declared the petitioners’ case closed and adjourned to August 19, 2019, for continuation.
