Daniel Azankan, Principal Witness (PW5), who testified in the case of Eli Bako Ankala Against Ibrahim Abalak in suit number EPT/PL/SHA/07/2023 at the National and State Assembly Elections Petitions Tribunal (EPT), Plateau State sitting in Court 4 at the High Court Complex in Jos, has on Wednesday, July 12, 2023, confirmed that the Plateau State Chapter of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) has complied with the court directive to re-conduct its congresses during cross examination.

Azankan, who hails from Jebbu Bassa, Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State, whose deposition was on pages 42–43 and pages 23–26 of the reply responses of the petition, signed on the 7th April 2023 and the 9th May 2023, respectively, informed the court that he was a politician and a civil servant, a member of the PDP, and swore to an oath to testify as witness in chief, led by the petitioner's counsel, Leo Ebi, in the petition of Eli Bako Ankala candidate for the Irigwe/Rukuba State House of Assembly under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

While tendering some documents in support of their matter, counsel for the 2nd and 3rd respondent, Chief Kuttu SAN, sought the leave of the Tribunal to tender through the bar: the Federal High Court Judgment delivered on December 2, 2022, by Justice Dorcas Agishi, filed by Augustine Timkuk against the Independent National Elections Commission (INEC), the People's Democratic Party (PDP), and others; the Court of Appeal Judgment delivered on February 11, 2023, in suit number CA/J/300/2023, filed by Augustine Timkuk against INEC, PDP, and others; the Comprehensive Report of PDP Re-conducted Congresses by INEC; and PDP Letter to the Commissioner of Police, Plateau State Command.

Counsel for the Petitioner, Leo Ebi, does not object to the admissibility of the first three documents but is opposed to the tendering of the PDP letter to the Commissioner of Police, citing that it's not a public document and that it's written on the letterhead of the PDP, noting that they would state their reasons in their final written addresses, which prompted counsel for the 2nd and 3rd Respondents to withdraw the application for the tendering of the PDP Letter to the Commissioner of Police as an exhibit in the suit.

During cross-examination of the PW5, Counsel for the 1st Respondent asked the witness whether he was aware that the 1st Respondent has supervised the repeat congresses of the PDP on September 25, 2021.

After several altercations, the witness said he was not aware; the Counsel further asserted that if he would be surprised to see the report of the 1st Respondent to that effect, which was later shown to him, he was asked to read the first page of the report, which the PW5 read and confirmed the document.

While further cross-examining the witness, counsel for the 2nd and 3rd Respondents, Chief Kuttu SAN, stated that PW5 was a staf of the University of Jos, Security Department, which he answered in affirmative and applied for exhibits 2/3R1 and 2 (judgments of the Federal High Court and Court of Appeal instituted by Augustine Timkuk) to be shown to the PW5 and was asked to read the decisions of the Court in the suit, where Azankan, PW5, stated that PDP complied with the order of the court as affirmed by the respective judgments.

Counsel for the Petitioner, Leo Ebi, has earlier on tendered the PDP Membership Card of the Witness, who has never paid membership dues for the entire period up to 2021, which was due for renewal, and has later informed the court that he has closed their case while the 1st respondent seeks the leave of the court for adjournment to enable them to open their defense on the next adjourned date, which the court has graciously fixed as July 17, 2023, while urging all respondents to avail themselves of their witnesses.