The pre-hearing report of the Kaduna State gubernatorial election petition tribunal, which is being overseen by Justice Victor Oviawe, has been changed.

The amendment was made as a result of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC’s) inability to file a complaint against PDP gubernatorial candidate Isa Ashiru and his party on Saturday as directed by the tribunal at the previous meeting.

The petitioners’ case was dismissed at the previous meeting because the Commission had previously been unable to turn over the witness who had been subpoenaed.

Resuming hearing Saturday, INEC was expected to open its case against the petitioners but failed to do so, as its Counsel pleaded for an extension of time to enable the Commission’s witnesses appear before the tribunal.

“The witnesses we intend to call are writing promotional examinations. We planned to call all our witnesses on Wednesday,” the counsel to INEC pleaded for further modification of the pre-hearing report.

The tribunal then allotted three days respectively to the 1st (INEC), 2nd (Uba Sani) and 3rd (APC) respondents for the opening and closing of their cases, considering the volume of witnesses being lined up by them.

According to the tribunal, it appears that the Counsels (INEC) are trying to waste the time of the tribunal.

Upon submissions by all the Counsels, the three-man panel of the tribunal directed that INEC open its case on Wednesday and close the same day and urged the Counsels to cooperate with the tribunal.

Meanwhile, the petition marked EPT/KD/Gov/4/23 has been adjourned till Wednesday, August 9, 2023, next week.