- To call more witnesses today
All Progressives Congress (APC) opened its defence on Tuesday in the dispute over the last governorship election in Edo State, by calling four witnesses.
Some of the witnesses, who testified at the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, sitting in Abuja, agreed that incidence of over-voting was recorded in some polling units in the local governments where they monitored the poll.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the election, Asue Ighodalo, are by their petition, querying the outcome of the election.
The four witnesses included those that served as APC local government collation agents during the disputed election.
Led in evidence by Echezona Etiaba (SAN), the first witness, Afuda Theophilus Idemudia, a 54-year-old businessman and resident of Benin City, said he monitored the election in Esan North East Local Government.
Idemudia identified his statement on oath, and told the tribunal that result of the election from Esan North East was signed by the agent of the PDP.
He confirmed to the tribunal that under Exhibit PCB-40, titled: ‘Ballot Paper and Verification Statement’, the Part A of the document was expected to be completed by an official of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the opening of poll, while Part B was to be completed after the close of poll.
The witness noted that page 6 of the Exhibit PCB-40 relates to Esan North East Local Government, adding that it was indicated that the document was for governorship election.
He said under part A of the Exhibit, the first item required the serial number of the Ballot Papers that were issued to the polling units.
When handed a copy of the document to confirm, the witness, said: “Yes, I can see serial numbers recorded on this document. They are: 0459785 and 0460292.”
He maintained that serial numbers of Ballot Papers issued to the respective polling units were filled.
Under cross-examination by lawyer to the petitioners, Abiodun Owonikoko (SAN), the witness admitted that there was an incident of over-voting in one of polling units in the local government.
When shown a copy of the result sheets, the witness confirmed that the total number of accredited voters in Unit 11, Ward 6, was 96.
He admitted that after the election, it was recorded that APC got 53 votes, PDP 43 and one rejected vote.
Upon a request by Owonikoko, the witness calculated the votes and told the tribunal that it amounted to 97, as against 96 persons that were accredited to vote at the polling unit.
He subsequently agreed that there was over-voting in the polling unit. He proceeded to say because of the development, the result was cancelled.
The second witness, Kamarudeen Coker Bello, also 54 years, said he is a businessman and lives in Ighara, Edo State. He said he served as a local government agent of the APC in Akoko Edo Local Government during the election.
The witness confirmed signing a written statement on oath before the tribunal on November 9, 2024, which he adopted on Tuesday, while being led by Etiaba.
Under cross-examination by Owonikoko, the witness confirmed that the petitioners raised allegations of over-voting in 17 polling units in the local government in the petition.
The third witness identified himself as Gabriel Iduseri, an engineer and said he acted as APC’s collation agent for Oredo Local Government.
He claimed that there was no complaint about the conduct of the election by agents of any of the political parties that participated in the poll.
The witness admitted that result from polling Unit 8, Ward 10, was cancelled at the Ward Collation Centre due to over-voting.
The witness told the tribunal that it was the responsibility of the electoral officers to confirm the correctness or otherwise of results submitted at the local government level.
When asked if he was aware that in the petition, there was a table of 53 and 66 polling units in Oredo Local Government where petitioners alleged that INEC recorded the results incorrectly, the witness replied that though he read the petition, he could not recall the number of the disputed polling units.
The fourth witness, Frank David, said he served as APC collation agent for Owan West Local Government and that INEC officials diligently collated all the results from the polling units, saying neither himself nor any other agent raised any issue about the final result.
David said himself, the PDP and Labour Party (LP) agents signed result sheets of the election.
While being cross-examined, David said although he was aware that INEC officials ought to fill details of sensitive materials handed to them for the poll, he could not confirm if the procedure was followed, since he did not serve as an official of INEC during the election.
When handed IReV report of Form EC8A of Ward 4 Unit 19, the witness confirmed that although only 36 persons were accredited, votes recorded for the unit were; 28, 1 and 8, amounting to 37.
He was also handed another exhibit containing the result from Ward 8, Unit 8 and he confirmed that the votes were; 54 and 25, amounting to 79, while 1 was marked as rejected vote, making it a total of 80 votes.
The witness claimed that results of the election from Unit 5 were not accounted for, as they were cancelled owing to over-voting.
At the conclusion of David’s testimony, the lead lawyer to the APC, Emmanuel Ukala (SAN), announced that his client was preparing a schedule of documents it would tender when the proceedings resumed.
The tribunal subsequently adjourned till today.
