OSUN ELECTION PETITION UPDATE: Omisore Witness Deny Result Tendered by own counsel By Ibrahim Lawal Esq It was a drama of some sort in court today when one of the witness called by the petitioner from Olorunda Local Government, Mr. Tiamiyu Akofe denied ever seeing the duplicate copy of form EC8A tendered by the petitioners through Bola Ajao as PW1. He said while he was being cross examined by Oluwarotimi Akeredolu Esq, SAN as to the correctness of entries made in the said form. He denied ever coming in contact with the form as what he signed on that day was a green colour form as against pink coloured form EC8A. The court initially took off with a letter of request for adjournment written by INEC to the effect that they are unable to give effect to the request of the petitioner through a subpoena to bring ballot papers to court today. They ask for monday to enable them sort out the document for proper presentation. In reaction to the letter, the Petitioner Counsel, Roland Otaru SAN said that they are not opposing the application for adjournment but that today and tomorrow should not be counted among the day they are to proof their petition. The court however refused the application and maintain that failure of INEC to bring ballot papers today should not impede the work of the tribunal as there are other things the petitioner can do pending when they will bring ballot papers. The tribunal reminded the petitioners that they still have an unfinished business of tendering more voters register. According to the tribunal, the mere fact that INEC is not represented at todays proceeding will not occasion any injustice as they are aware that the petition will go on today. Having seen the futility in pushing for an adjournment without incuring the wrath of the tribunal, the Petitioners Counsel informed court that they have a motion on notice dated 20th November,2014 but filed on the 26th November, 2014 and they are ready to move the motion. The motion is seeking the leave of court for an additional witness to bring in the report of ballot paper inspection. In response to the application, Kunle Adegoke Esq, informed the court that the motion in question was served on the 1st Respondent (Rauf Aregbesola) yesterday and they will need time to study the document and file appropriate response to it. He added that the application itself is not ripe for hearing as it requires 7 days going by the rules. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu Esq, SAN on his part acknowledged the service of the motion on his client (APC) yesterday and needed time to study the motion and the accompanied documents. He added that the report sort to be tendered is a kind that need thorough study, moreso, when the Petitioners can call the witness immediately the motion is granted. At this stage the court asked whether INEC has been served with the motion and the answer was in the negative. The tribunal asked whether in the interest of justice the Respondent can abridge time within which they will react. The Respondents conceded nextweek Tuesday as the time they can concede. The tribunal thereafter ruled that the application will be heard next week Tuesday. The Petitioners thereafter called 9 more witnesses in further proof of their petition. They were Ajani Popoola Oladayo and Aileru Yusuf Adetokunbo from Iwo LG; Tiamiyu Akofe, Olorunda LG; Jimoh Afeez Akinkunmi and Muftau Agboola Irepodun LG, Ajayi Jacobs, Raji Kayode; Adebayo Adekoya and Lawal Falilu from Ejigbo LG. All the witness testimonies were impugned during cross examination as a lot of them contradicted themselves on their depositions. For instance Muftau Agboola was given Form EC8A to confirm the allegation in his witness statement on oath that the votes casted is more than the ballot papers presented to the unit which he failed to point out. For Lawal Falilu, he failed during cross examination when they asked him to point out any unit where votes recorded is more than accredited voters. At around 5.45pm, the PetitionersCounsel asked for adjournment for monday to enable them continue with their case as they relied so much on the ballot papers for their case . The court granted their prayers in the interest of justice and adjourn the petition to monday next week for continuation of hearing.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 20:37:41 +0000
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