Edo tribunal: APC opens defence with four witnesses

The All Progressives Congress on Wednesday began its defence before the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja, calling four witnesses who served as local government collation agents.

The tribunal is hearing the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, challenging the victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo of the APC in the September 21, 2024 election.

While the PDP closed its case last week and Okpebholo concluded his defence on Monday after calling a single witness, the APC opened its case with testimonies from agents representing Esan North East, Akoko Edo, Oredo, and Owan West Local Government Areas.

Under cross-examination, some of the witnesses made notable admissions regarding over-voting in the election.

Afuda Theophilus, APC’s collation agent for Esan North East, initially denied any instances of over-voting in his written testimony.

 However, under questioning by the petitioners’ counsel, A. J. Owonikoko (SAN), he acknowledged over-voting in his polling unit.

 When confronted with election document discrepancies, Theophilus admitted to irregularities, adding, “Yes, but to prove over-voting, you will also need the BVAS report.”

He also confirmed that INEC had cancelled results from affected polling units.

Similarly, Gabriel Iduseri, APC’s collation agent for Oredo LGA, initially claimed the election was free of complaints.

However, he later conceded that results from Unit 8, Ward 10, were cancelled at the Ward Collation Center due to over-voting.

In contrast, Kamarudeen Bello, APC’s collation agent for Akoko Edo, maintained that no cases of over-voting occurred in his jurisdiction.

Frank David, the collation agent for Owan West, initially asserted that results in his area were correctly collated.

However, during cross-examination, he admitted that over-voting had led to result cancellations.

He also confirmed witnessing the collation process but could not verify whether INEC officials followed all procedures for documenting sensitive election materials.

Following the fourth witness’s testimony, APC’s counsel requested an adjournment, stating that the next set of witnesses would rely on documents that had yet to be tendered.

“We are preparing a schedule of witnesses and documents, which will be shared with the petitioners’ team later this evening. We will return tomorrow to tender the documents and call the next set of witnesses,” APC’s counsel informed the tribunal.

The party also confirmed its intention to present 28 witnesses in defence of Okpebholo’s victory.

Petitioners’ counsel, however, raised concerns, noting that only four witnesses had testified despite the APC providing a list of 28 names the previous day.

They sought clarity on whether the remaining witnesses would appear or if new documents would be introduced.

“My Lord, this clarification is essential for us to prepare appropriately for tomorrow,” they stated.

APC’s legal team assured them that all relevant details and documents would be made available beforehand.

The tribunal granted the adjournment request and scheduled further hearings for Thursday.