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Absence of INEC witnesses stall proceedings at Edo governorship tribunal

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Proceedings at the Edo Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, were stalled on Wednesday due to the absence of witnesses of the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC).

It was reported that INEC is listed as the 1st respondent in the suit filed by the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Mr Asue Ighodalo, challenging the outcome of the Sept. 21, gubernatorial election in Edo.

It was also reported that the commission was billed to open its defence on Wednesday after the petitioners closed their case on Monday.

At the resumed hearing, counsel to the commission, Mr Abdullahi Aliyu, told the tribunal that the five witnesses listed were still on their way to Abuja from Benin City.

Aliyu, however, tendered three documents before the Wilfred Kpochi-led three member tribunal to show that the commission was interested in opening its case.

The documents tendered by the electoral body were the certified true copies of the collation of result at the state level (or Form EC8D), the declaration of results and the regulations and guidelines for the conduct of elections, 2022.

The electoral umpire assured the tribunal that it would need only one day to conclude its case.

Justice Kpochi faulted INEC’s approach to oars case saying that the whole day had been wasted.

INEC’s counsel prayed the tribunal to grant the adjournment saying it had been given a ten-day timeline for its defence, adding that it had sufficient time to open and close its case.

On his part, Mr Adetunji Oyeyipo, counsel to Ighodalo, did not object to INEC’s tendering of the document.

He said that they were the same document the PDP had already tendered to prove its case that the outcome of the Edo governorship election was flawed.

The tribunal adjourned until Thursday for the commission to call its witnesses.

It was reported that the PDP and its candidate approached the tribunal, praying it to invalidate the outcome of the governorship election on the grounds of alleged non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022.

They further contended that Gov. Monday Okpebholo, of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) did not secure the highest number of majority votes cast in that election.

Wandoo Sombo

NEWSVERGE, published by The Verge Communications is an online community of international news portal and social advocates dedicated to bringing you commentaries, features, news reports from a Nigerian-African perspective. A unique organization, founded in the spirit of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, comprising of ordinary people with an overriding commitment to seeking the truth and publishing it without fear or favour. The Verge Communications is fully registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a corporate organization.

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