Tribunal resumes today as Keyamo attends hearing

Former Minister of State for Employment, Festus Keyamo has made his first appearance at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) which resumed its hearing on Tuesday, May 30.

Keyamo was sighted in court for the first time since the Tribunal began sitting.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and former Spokesperson for the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council donned his legal robe for Tuesday’s hearing in defence of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The definite hearing resumes after the court consolidated all the petitions before it at the last adjourned date.

The consolidation is for expeditious hearing since most of the grounds of the petitioners are similar.

Appearances are already ongoing for the APM Vs INEC, Tinubu, Shettima, APC and Kabiru Masari.

Tribunal on May 23 dismissed objections the Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) raised against the three different petitions seeking to nullify the outcome of the 2023 presidential election.

In the sitting, a five-member panel of the court led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, held that Justice of the cases demanded that they should be consolidated and dealt with as one petition since they all relate to the same election.

The court slated May 30 for Peter Obi of Labour Party (LP) to open his case against the outcome of the February 25 presidential election.

Obi had earlier said he would need seven weeks to present his case through 50 witnesses.

Reacting to Obi’s request, the court reduced the period to three weeks, even as it gave the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), Tinubu and the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, five days each to defend the petition.

Aside the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) and the LP, the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) also lodged a petition to challenge the outcome of the presidential election.