The Independent National Electoral Commission on Monday conveyed over 70,000 electoral materials to the ongoing Ogun State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, sitting in Abeokuta, to defend its verdict that Governor Ibikunle Amosun won the April 11 election.
The materials included Certified True Copies of voters register, result sheets, incident forms and original copies of ballot papers for the nine local governments under contention in the governorship poll.
The local governments are Abeokuta North, Abeokuta South, Ado-Odo/Ota, Ewekoro, Ifo, Obafemi Owode, Odeda, Remo North and Sagamu.
The documents were loaded in four Hilux vans.
The documents brought to the court by the Deputy Director/Head of Department, Electoral Operations of INEC in Ogun State, Samuel Ogunjemilua, were at the instance of the petitioners – the Peoples Democratic Party and its governorship candidate in April 11 election, Gboyega Isiaka.
Ogunjemilua was invited to the tribunal through a subpoena dated August 12 on the request of the counsel for the petitioners, Adetunji Oyeyipo (SAN).
The tribunal ordered the INEC to “produce, bring and tender the documents used for the governorship election.”
The documents were brought into the court in four Hilux Vans with number plates (PRESIDENCY) FG 66 – U01, FG 67 – U01, FG 68 – U01 and FG 70 – U01.
A schedule of document, obtained by journalists, indicated that 1,626 polling unit results and 820 incident forms were brought before the court.
Other documents included 70,024 sheets of voter register record, 1,913 results sheets, including EC8A and EC8B and 6,132 incident forms.
Counsel for Amosun, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), demanded that the INEC official swore to an oath like other witnesses before he could tender the documents before the tribunal.
He said, “If he is to tender, he is duty-bound to comply with what he has been brought to court to do; nobody can take the court for granted.”
While both counsel for APC and INEC, George Oyeniyi and Oluwadare Ogunnaike respectively, aligned with Fagbemi, Oyeyipo disagreed, citing the decision of the Court of Appeal in Olaniyan vs Oyewole, 2008.
Relying on Famakinwa vs University of Ibadan and Akanno vs Nigerian Army, 2008, Chairman of the three-man panel, Justice Henry Olusiyi, ruled that the subpoena should be taken for its title and that the witness was not duty bound to speak on oath.
He added that the respondents could not force the petitioner to do what he did not want to do since the case “is their case.”
The petitioners are, however, expected to tender the documents at subsequent sittings of the tribunal while the case was adjourned to Tuesday for continuation of trial
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