By Our Reporter
The Osun State Governorship Election Petition
Tribunal continued sitting Thursday with the All Progressives Congress
(APC) trying rationalise alterations of election results as reflected in
the forms EC8As, submitted as exhibits by the Petitioner, Peoples
Democratic Party’s (PDP), Senator Ademola Adeleke.
APC counsels
led by Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) and Abiodun Owonikoko (SAN) attempted
to shift the legality of the alterations to the INEC ward collation
agents and the provisions of the guidelines issued for the conduct of
the election.
While the court admitted the INEC guidelines
for the election despite PDP’s counsel’s Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu’s
objection, the witnesses produced by APC failed to toe the line marked
out by the APC legal team.
The witnesses all admitted that any
alteration of the result should have reflected on the pink copy, and
signed by all party agents at the polling centers, thus confirming that
in most cases, the alterations did not reflect on the pink copies, party
agents’ names/signatures were either not written at all or were forged.
The
petitioner’s counsel were able to extract these facts from APC
witnesses thereby buttressing PDP’s allegations and submissions that
several election results were doctored to reduce the margin of PDP
victory on September 22.
Another APC witness equally
proceeded to confirm that the disparity between the pink and the
purportedly certified true copies violated the INEC election guidelines.
The
guidelines had stated that in case of any alteration of results at
collation centres, such must be reflected on the carbonated pink copies.
In several cases, it was not the case as confirmed by APC’s witnesses.
After
taking three witnesses, lawyers to the APC abruptly stopped calling
more witnesses when It was evident that the witnesses were inadvertently
strengthening PDP’s case instead of theirs.
The tribunal continues sitting today.
Source:- Thisdaylive
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