Supreme Court may shelve vacation over Buhari, Atiku’s petition

Soji-Eze Fagbemi, Abuja - 30.04.2008

The Supreme Court on Tuesday pledged to give the appeals filed by both presidential candidates of the Action Congress, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and the All Nigeria Peoples Party, General Muhammadu Buhari, against the election of President Umaru Yar’Adua in the April 2007 presidential election an accelerated hearing.

To this end, the Supreme Court said it was ready to shift its vacation to enable it determine the two appeals within a short time.

.But counsel for President Yar’Adua, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), said he needed the 8 weeks allowed by court rules to file his brief, and Justice Idris Kutigi of the Supreme Court granted the request.

Chief Olanipekun cited several reasons while making the request, saying that the volume of work involved was high.

However, counsel for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN) urged the judges to proceed on their vacation which normally begins in July of every year.