A PRINCIPAL witness in a petition by Senator Iyiola Omisore, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the August 9 governorship election in Osun State, Prince Bola Ajao, Tuesday told the panel that Omisore and his party are contesting the outcome of the election due to the circumstances surrounding its process. Ajao, who was the first witness (PW1) who was invited to testify before the state Election Petition Tribunal headed by Justice Elizabeth Ikpejime said as the secretary of PDP in the state, he received numerous reports from party members on the field on alleged malpractices that went on in some areas. Led in evidence by the lead counsel to Omisore, Chris Uche (SAN), the witness also noted a federal high court judgement of 2011 was meant to restrain the Resident Electoral Commission (REC) in Osun State, Ambassador Rufus Akeju from conducting election in the state. Cross-examined by Charles Edosonmwan, the lead counsel to Governor Rauf Aregbesola, Ajao said he did not know the number of polling units being contested by his party but stated that Omisore and the PDP were challenging the result of the August 9 governorship poll in 17 local councils in the state because of alleged malpractices inherent in it and not because the party did not win the election. The witness had earlier tendered some electoral materials in connection with the disputed election to the panel which were admitted in evidence as exhibits by the panel. Edosonmwan, Uche and the third respondent, Ayotunde Ogunleye representing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) objected to the tendering of electoral documents, but the chairman of the tribunal said ruling on the objection would be attended to during the final judgement. He told the panel that all the votes cast in 17 local councils being contested by his party were ‘bad’. He denied that INEC engaged him to work as official during the election and that no voter came to him to tell him of his age and where he came from. On the claim that Ambassador Akeju conducted the August 9 governorship poll, Ogunleye presented a Certified True Copy (CTC) of a document to contradict him, but Uche objected to the tendering of the document from the bar. He said the document was supposed to have been frontloaded particularly when it was neither listed, pleaded nor came from INEC. The tribunal however reserved its ruling on the matter. Another witness, Prince Kolapo Sikiru, who said he served as supervisor to the PDP and came from unit 3, Isale Osun ,Osogbo local council during the election noted certain discrepancies in the signature of party agents presented to him for identification. He claimed he saw form EC8A which is election result in the area but denied signing the document. He also told the panel that electoral officers on duty did not ask for his voters card but only asked for his name and ticked it on the register of voters. Sikiru said party agents in the area staged a protest on noticeable sharp practices on the day of the election, adding that the policemen on duty ignored their complaints. He also denied that the PDP agents in the area wore party uniform on the day of the election. The third witness (PW3), a retiree from the state public service who claimed he served as supervisor in ward 2, Osogbo local council, told the panel that the election was not free and fair as against the general belief. He said he was able to notice discrepancies during the election, because, according to him he was moving from unit to unit to discharge his responsibilities, claiming that there was no proper accreditation in areas he supervised. According to him, despite the large presence of presence of security men during the election, policemen drafted to man the poll in his area were incompetent. He said he could not remember names of voters who were disallowed from performing their civic responsibility, adding that the number of the disenfranchised was more than 10. He alleged that INEC officials and policemen drove away PDP agents from polling units in the area which he said caused serious problem. #Guardian
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 05:59:39 +0000
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