Due to the absence of its first witness, today's scheduled start of the Independent National Electoral Commission's (INEC) defense before the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) was postponed.
Today was the anticipated opening of INEC's defense, the first respondent in the petition filed by Peter Obi and the Labour Party (LP).
Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), the attorney for INEC, informed the court at the case's mention at 9:30 am that although his client planned to bring three witnesses over the course of three days, the one scheduled for today is unavailable due to family obligations.
Mahmoud then requested a postponement until Tuesday so the witness may appear in court.
Other parties' attorneys, including Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) for the All Progressives Congress (APC), Wole Olanipekun (SAN) for President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettma, and Livy Uzoukwu (SAN) for Obi/LP, did not oppose to Mahmoud's plea.
In her decision, Justice Haruna Tsammani, the presiding justice, postponed the hearing until Tuesday at 9 a.m.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Atiku Abubakar have filed an appeal, and the court has risen with a promise to reconvene at 2 o'clock.
