The large number of lawyers including the over ten Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) representing the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on Friday boycotted the sitting of the Supreme Court where the reasons for the dismissal of their appeal challenging the outcome of the February 23 presidential election was being delivered.
On the other hand, many of the SANs who led the legal teams of President Muhammadu Buhari, the winner of the poll, the All Progressives Congress and the Independent National Electoral Commission were already seated ahead of the proceedings that began at about 9.05am on Friday.
Commenting on the absence of the lawyers to Atiku and PDP, Dr. Alex Izinyon (SAN), who appeared for President Muhammadu Buhari, stated that their actions were against the rules of the court.
He, however, apologised to their court for the absence of the petitioners’ lawyers saying it was not a normal practice for them to miss important meetings such as this one.
Regardless, Justice John Okoro who confirmed that counsel to the petitioners were served with hearing notice on Wednesday, said the court sitting could not be postponed to another day.
THE SUN, NIGERIA
