Atiku's Petition Suffers Setback - Thisday

The petition filed by the Action Congress (AC) candidate in the April 21 presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, against the election of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua may have suffered a setback.

Yesterday, the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja stopped Atiku from calling witnesses which included local and international observers of the election.

The court presided over by Justice James Ogebe disallowed Atiku, the former vice president, from calling the witnesses on the ground that the witnesses could not give oral testimony.

Some of the witnesses had been summonsed by the tribunal to produce some documents before the court at the instance of Atiku.

Among the witnesses lined up to be called by the former vice president are Prof. Robert T. Nakamura, the Nigeria Country Director of National Democratic Institute (NDI), which monitored the 2007 elections; Mr. Mourdaba Deme, the new Country Representative of International Republican Institute (IRI), which also monitored the election, and Rev. Babangida Audu, the representative of Justice Peace and Development/Caritas Nigeria (JDPC), a Catholic organisation and one of the local election observers that monitored the poll.

Other witnesses included the Nigeria Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC) and Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).

In stopping Atiku's counsel from inviting the witnesses, Justice Ogebe held that the written depositions of the witnesses were not filed along with the petition and that the Practice Direction governing proceedings at the tribunal did not allow for witnesses to give oral testimony.
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