APC presents 4 witnesses earlier than Edo election petition tribunal

The All Progressives Congress on Wednesday opened its defence by presenting 4 witnesses earlier than the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja.

The witnesses, who served as native authorities collation brokers, admitted underneath cross-examination that there have been incidents of over-voting in the course of the September 21, 2024, governorship election.

The Peoples Democratic Party and its governorship candidate, Asue Ighodalo, are difficult the election outcomes wherein the Unbiased Nationwide Electoral Fee declared the APC candidate, Monday Okpebholo, because the winner.

Aggrieved by the declaration, the PDP and Ighodalo filed a petition towards INEC, Okpebholo, and the APC as 1st, 2nd, and third respondents, respectively.

Through the tribunal session, APC witnesses from Esan North East, Akoko Edo, Oredo, and Owan West Native Authorities Areas testified. Beneath cross-examination, they made vital admissions about over-voting within the election.

Afuda Theophilus a businessman and APC collation agent for Esan North East initially denied over-voting in his witness assertion.

Nonetheless, underneath cross-examination by the petitioner’s counsel, Mr. A. J. Owonikoko (SAN), he admitted to over-voting in his polling unit.

When confronted with discrepancies within the election paperwork, Theophilus acknowledged the irregularities, stating, “Sure, however to show over-voting, additionally, you will want the BVAS report.”

He added that INEC cancelled the outcomes from polling items the place over-voting occurred.

Engr. Gabriel Iduseri, an APC collation agent for Oredo LGA, initially claimed there have been no complaints concerning the conduct of the election however afterwards admitted that outcomes from Unit 8, Ward 10, had been cancelled on the Ward Collation Heart as a consequence of over-voting.

He additional said that the cancelled outcomes weren’t included within the figures collated and introduced by INEC.

Kamarudeen Bello, a collation agent for APC in Akoko Edo LGA, maintained there was no over-voting in his space.

Frank David, a businessman and an APC collation agent for Owan West, mentioned that the leads to his space had been appropriately collated.

He, nevertheless, underneath cross-examination, admitted to over-voting which led to consequence cancellations. He confirmed being current all through the collation course of at Owan West however said he couldn’t confirm whether or not INEC officers adopted all procedures for documenting delicate election supplies.

In the meantime, after the fourth witness stepped out of the witness field, the APC counsel prayed the tribunal for an adjournment, stating that, “The subsequent set of witnesses will depend on paperwork that haven’t but been tendered.

He mentioned, “We’re making ready a schedule of witnesses and paperwork, which might be shared with the petitioners’ crew later this night. We’ll return tomorrow to tender the paperwork and name the following set of witnesses.”

The APC additionally confirmed plans to current a complete of 28 witnesses in defence of Okpebholo’s victory.

In response, petitioners’ counsel famous that solely 4 witnesses had been referred to as so removed from the checklist of 28 offered to them the day prior to this. They sought readability on whether or not the remaining witnesses would seem or if new paperwork could be launched.

“My Lord, this clarification is crucial for us to organize appropriately for tomorrow,” they said.

APC, nevertheless, assured them there could be no surprises as all necessary particulars and paperwork could be made out there to them beforehand.

The tribunal granted the APC’s request and adjourned additional hearings till Thursday.