The presidential election tribunal has dismissed the application filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and it’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar seeking an order of the tribunal to set aside the proceedings of June 11, 2019, or in the alternative enlarge time for the PDP to file a counter affidavit in opposition to the application filed by the APC seeking to expunge some aspects of its petition.
The tribunal held that the petitioners which are the PDP and its candidate did not put anything before the tribunal enough as to sway it in its favour, hence, the application is lacking in merit and is struck out.
The tribunal also suspended ruling in all of the application filed by all parties in the petition of the Peoples Democratic Party against the election of President Muhammadu Buhari to the date when the final judgment in the petition will be delivered.
The chairman of the tribunal Justice Mohammed Garba who made the announcement said the tribunal’s decision is on the grounds that all the application center on the competence of the petition and all those questions will be answered when the final judgment is to be delivered.
The chairman of the tribunal also reminded the parties that they had elected on the 1st of July 2019, that the hearing in the petition proper should begin on the 4th of July, adding that in line with that agreement, the pre-trial hearing had to end today.
In delivering the report of the pre-trial hearing, the chairman of the tribunal said the court adopted the suggestion as to the terms for the hearing of the petition, stressing that the petition proper is now set down for hearing starting from July the 4th 2019.
