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The case brought by Mr. Peter Gregory Obi and the Labour Party, LP, to challenge President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's victory was heard by the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, for the third time, and the court was compelled to adjourn.
Due to an inadequate timeframe for materials to be submitted in support of the petition's accusations of irregularities during the February 25 presidential election, the court dismissed the petition.
The court found that the materials were not properly arranged as the Court had requested at the sessions on Thursday.
Many inconsistencies were found in the drama that erupted when the 23 Benue local government districts of Benue were asked to submit their documents.
Since the problems couldn't be fixed right away, all attempts to explain the oddity and reschedule the papers were fruitless.
Chief Emeka Okpoko, SAN, the attorney for Obi and the Labour Party, attempted to avert a crisis by attempting to conduct the proceedings using papers that had not been filed, but the attempt was denied due to legal issues.
In the end, the court decided not to continue hearing the petition and gave the attorneys instructions to re-file the schedule of documents in accordance with the recommendations of the pre-hearing report.
The petition hearing had been shifted because Obi's hearing had three times run into stormy waters.
At the time this story was being written, Peter Obi and Datti Baba Ahmed, the vice presidential candidate, were present in court while their attorneys scurried frantically to the court's registry to submit a fresh schedule of papers.
Five Justices who are hearing the petition under the leadership of Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani have retired to their chambers in the meanwhile and are waiting for the legal team to organize its affairs.
