Four additional witnesses of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday claimed that the conduct of the 2024 governorship election in Edo State was characterised by irregularities in some polling units in Esan North East, Oredo, Esan South East, and Esan Central Local Government Areas in the state.
The development brings to 10 the total number of witnesses so far presented by the PDP and its candidate in the election, Dr Asue Ighodalo, who is challenging INEC’s declaration of Senator Monday Okpebholo as the winner of the election.
Giving his testimony at the resumed hearing of the petition marked EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024, the petitioners’ witness and PDP Esan North East Local Government Area Collation Agent, Mr Igbarase Matthias, prayed the tribunal to admit his statement on oath, which he deposed to on October 11, 2024, in support of the petitioners’ case.
He claimed in his statement that there was over-voting in nine polling units relating to exhibits PCB 40- PCB 48 of Form EC25B series in his Local Government Area.
Matthias told the court that in arriving at his statement on oath, he relied on certified true copies of INEC’s Voters Register, Forms EC25B, EC8A, INEC election manual booklet, screenshots of IREV copies of Form EC8A, BIVAS accreditation report, and BIVAS extract being CTCs of Form EC8C, after personally examining them.
He tendered IREV-certified true copies of results sheets obtained from INEC and duplicate copies of Polling Unit Results Sheets of Form EC8A given by INEC to polling unit agents and his party agent card as documentary evidence.
The 54-year-old petitioners’ witness claimed that there was over-voting in polling unit 011, adding that he is aware that the uploading of results into the IREV takes place at the polling unit level.
Upon cross-examination by lead counsel to the 1st Respondent (INEC), Kanu Agabi, the witness said he made his deposition on October 11, 2024, while the screenshots of INEC’s BIVAS report he relied on in his statement were certified by INEC on January 8, 2025.
“My job as LGA agent of my party in the election did not entail me handling the BIVAS during the election.”
He admitted that the PDP Unit and Ward Agents signed the election result sheets, adding that he did not function as unit agent or ward agent for his party in the election.
On his part, the PDP agent for Oredo Local Government Area, Aigbe Ighodaro Lucky, told the court that there was over-voting in 66 polling units in the local government area and incorrect scores were entered by INEC for his party in favour of the APC during the election.
He said he relied on INEC documents to arrive at his statement on oath and adopted the same as evidence in the petition.
Ighodaro also told the Tribunal that there was no prior recording of serial numbers of sensitive materials deployed for the election in the local government in INEC’s form EC25B.
When cross-examined by counsel to the respondents, the witness claimed to have relied on INEC documents made available to him in the formation of his deposition, despite never participating in the signing of the documents except Form EC25C.
“My Lord, I did not examine any BIVAS machine used for the election all through the process during my work as PDP Local Government Area Collation Agent in Oredo. But I examined the documents given to me by my party,” the witness submitted.
For Adekunle Oboh, PDP Local Government Area Collation Agent in Esan Central, there were irregularities in 23 polling units in the area during the election.
He specifically told the court in his testimonies that there was no prior recording of serial numbers of sensitive materials deployed to some polling units in the area in Form EC25B.
Oboh said the polling unit results sheets were signed by his party agents up to the ward level before he signed Form EC8C.
He admitted that all the Forms EC8A (Result sheets) were counter-signed by INEC presiding officers, just as he submitted that the documents he personally examined that form the basis of his witness deposition were obtained from INEC by his party.
According to Wilson Ibhawa, the petitioners’ Esan South East Local Government Area Collation Agent, there was no prior recording of serial numbers of sensitive materials used in the election in Form EC25B in five polling units in his area.
While raising objections to the admissibility of the documents tendered in court, counsel to the respondents deferred their reasons to the address stage of the petition.
Justice Wilfred Kpochi, Chairman of the Tribunal, however, admitted the documents in evidence provisionally, pending the arguments of the respondent’s counsel.
He, therefore, adjourned the sitting to Friday, January 24, 2025, for the continuation of the hearing.
It would be recalled that among the 18 political parties that participated in the election, seven, including the PDP, Social Democratic Party (SDP), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Action Democratic Party (ADP), Accord Party (AP), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), and Action Alliance (AA), filed petitions at the Tribunal.
They sought to have their candidates declared winners of the keenly contested election instead of Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
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