The attached document is a Certified True Copy (CTC) containing details of the pre-hearing session report filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) holden at Abuja on Tuesday, the 23rd Day of May, 2023, before their Lordships Haruna Simon Tsammani, Stephen Jonah Adah, Misitura Omodere Bolaji-Yusuff, Boloukuromo Moses Ugo and Abba Bello Mohammed with case file: CA/PEPC/05/2023.
The petition was instituted between Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), herein referred to as “Petitioners”, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC), herein referred to as “Respondents”.
The report of pre-hearing session reads:
A: INTRODUCTION:
The Petitioners filed this Petition on the 21st of March, 2023. The 1st Respondent’s Reply was filed on 11th April, 2023. That of the 2nd Respondent was filed on 12th April, 2023. That of the 3rd Respondent was filed on the 11th of April, 2023. In response to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Respondents’ Replies, the Petitioners filed Replies on 20th April, 2023, 23rd April, 2023 and 20th” of April, 2023, respectively.
In the Pre-hearing Session held from the 9th of May, 2023 to the 22nd of May, 2023 the following were considered by the Honourable Court:
B: JOINDER OF PARTIES:
No joinder of additional parties was sought by any of the parties during the pre-hearing period.
C: AMENDMENTS: No amendment was made by the parties to their pleadings.
D: ORDER OF WITNESSES:
The Petitioners indicated that they will call more than hundred (100) witnesses but stated that they will require three weeks to prove their case since the issues are getting narrower. The Respondent stated its intention to call the two (2) witnesses listed in its Reply and to conduct its case within seven (7) days. The 2nd Respondent had thirty-nine (39) witnesses and undertook to conduct his case within nine (9) days. The 3rd Respondent which listed twenty-five (25) witnesses also sought for nine (9) days to conduct its case. All the parties however indicated that they may call expert and subpoenaed witnesses.
From the submissions of the parties, there are a total of one hundred and sixty-six (166) witnesses to be called in this Petition.
E: INTERPRETER
The 2nd and 3rd Respondents all indicated that they will need the services of interpreter to interprete the proceedings from English to any of the Nigerian languages as may be required.
F: EXPERTS: All the parties indicated that they may call their expert witnesses.
G: SETTLEMENT OUT-OF-COURT: Parties stated that no settlement out of Court is being contemplated.
H: ASSISTANCE BY COURT:
All parties categorically stated that they cannot be assisted by the Court without a hearing; so all the parties subscribed to the hearing of the petition.
I: SETTLEMENT OF DOCUMENTS:
All the parties stated that they will rely on the list of documents contained in their respective pleadings. At the pre-hearing session, all the parties indicated that they will not be objecting to all electoral documents duly certified by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), but they reserved their respective rights to object to all other documents. Hence, parties were only able to settle and agree on all the documents duly certified by INEC. Since those documents are public documents which have been consented to by the parties, the said certified documents shall, in line with Paragraph 41(2) of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act, 2022, be tendered from the Bar and admitted during the hearing. All the parties agreed that arguments on documents objected at the point of tendering should be reserved and reasons given at the address stage, with the proviso that separate addresses on such objections may be made by the parties. The parties also agreed to file and exchange Schedule of the Documents which they intend to tender before the date of hearing. As agreed by all the parties, it is hereby so ordered.
J: INTERLOCUTORY APPLICATIONS: A total of ten interlocutory applications were made by the parties and considered by the Court. Two were ex-parte applications made by the Petitioners for inspection of documents and for substituted service of the petition, while nine were preliminary objections separately brought by the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Respondents challenging the competence of the petition or seeking to strike out some part of the Petitioners’ pleadings. In line with the dictates of Section 285(8) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, the Court heard those interlocutory applications and deferred rulings on same to be delivered at the stage of final judgment. The Petitioners also filed an application for live streaming of the court proceedings in this petition. After hearing the application, the Court found that the application relates to an issue that borders on judicial policy, which is outside the jurisdictional mandate of the Presidential Elections Petitions Court. Consequently, the Court struck out the application.
K: SETTLEMENT OF ISSUES:
Parties filed and adopted their respective issues for determination. The Petitioners filed 7 issues for determination on the 11th of May, 2023. The 1st Respondent filed 5 issues on the 12th of May, 2023. On the 10th of May, 2023, the 2nd Respondent filed 7 issues, while the 3rd Respondents filed 4 issues for determination. Since the parties have not agreed on the issues to be determined in this petition, the Tribunal shall after consideration of all the issues formulated by the parties and the evidence adduced by the parties at trial, distill the issues for determination in this petition.
L: EXAMINATION AND CROSS-EXAMINATION OF WITNESSES:
The Petitioners stated that the parties have agreed that 30 minutes be allotted for examination-in-chief, 15 minutes for cross examination and 5 minutes for re-examination of the Petitioners’ star witnesses, while for other witnesses 10 minutes each should be given for examination in chief and for cross examination, as well as 5 minutes for re-examination. They also proposed 30 minutes for examination in chief, 30 minutes for cross examination and 5 minutes for re-examination of the Respondents’ star witnesses. The 1st Respondent, confirmed the position as stated by the Petitioners. On the part of the 2nd Respondent, 20 minutes for examination in chief, 30 minutes for cross examination, and 5 minutes for re-examination was proposed for expert witnesses, while for non-expert witnesses, 5 minutes was proposed for examination in chief, 15 minutes for cross examination and 5 minutes for re-examination. The 3rd Respondent also suggested 20 minutes for examination in chief, 30 minutes for cross examination and 5 minutes for re-examination of star witnesses, while for other witnesses, 5 minutes, 15 minutes and 5 minutes was proposed for examination in chief, cross examination and re-examination, respectively. Since it is apparent that the parties were unable to fully agree on the modalities for examination and cross examination of witnesses, the Court here orders that, in line with paragraph 41(3) of the 1st Schedule to the Electoral Act, 2022, there shall be no oral examination of witnesses. Parties are only to lead their respective witnesses to adopt their written depositions on oath and identify documents where required. For star witnesses, their examination in chief shall be for a maximum period of 30 minutes while their cross examination and re-examination shall be for maximum periods of 20 and 5 minutes, respectively. As for other witnesses of the parties, maximum periods of 10 minutes each for examination in chief and cross examination shall be allowed, and 5 minutes for re-examination. Where Respondents are cross examining each other they shall have 5 minutes to do so. Given the time bound nature of this petition, the time so allotted shall be monitored and strictly enforced by the Court.
M: PRESENTATION OF CASES BY THE PARTIES:
Given the time bound nature of this proceedings the time for presentation of cases by parties is hereby set as follows: The Petitioners have three weeks to prove their case. The 1′ Respondent shall have 2 days, while the 2″ and 3′ Respondents shall have 5 days each to present their respective cases.
N: CONSOLIDATION OF ACTION: (Paragraph 50).
The Petitioners and the 1st Respondent were not opposed to the consolidation of this petition with Petitions Nos. CA/PEPC/03/2023 and CA/PEPC/04/2023. However, other Respondents opposed consolidation of the petition with the other petitions and gave various reasons. In line with requirement of Paragraph 50 of the 1st Schedule to the Electoral Act, 2022, this Court hereby determines that justice demands that this Petition be consolidated with Petitions Nos. CA/PEPC/03/2023 and CA/PEPC/04/2023 and be dealt with as one petition since they all relate to the same election and return.
O: ADDITIONAL PRE-HEARING SESSION:
No extension of the pre-hearing period was sought and none was granted.
Hearing shall commence on Tuesday, the 30th day of May, 2023. The Registry shall issue the requisite Hearing Notice as required by Paragraph 20(1) of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act, 2022.
See the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the report of pre-hearing session below:
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