The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said on Tuesday that it has no witness to call against Hon. Adekunle Akinlade and the Allied People's Movement (APM) in the governorship election tribunal going on in Ogun State.
INEC was expected to open its defense on Tuesday against Akinlade who has accused it of awarding "illegal votes" to the new governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun as the first respondent in the election petition.
But the commission, through one of its counsels, told the Justice Yusuf Halilu-led tribunal that it would not call any witness against Akinlade and the APM; creating the need for the second respondent, Dapo Abiodun, to open his defense.
Earlier, an Administrative Secretary at the Ogun State office of INEC, James Popoola, has testified before the tribunal by adopting Certified True Copies (CTC) of result sheets (FORMS EC8A, EC8B, EC8C), voter registers among other electoral materials used in all the 20 local governments for the Ogun 2019 guber election, as tendered by Akinlade.
Popoola, who appeared in court after the tribunal had threatened to send him to prison for allegedly trying to disobey an order to appear before it as a supreme witness, confirmed to the tribunal that he was the one who signed and stamped the electoral materials before they were released to the petitioners as C
Akinlade and his party, APM, have dragged the INEC, Dapo Abiodun and the All Progressives Congress (APC) before the election petition tribunal, asking it to declare him winner of the March 9, 2019 governorship election in Ogun State.
The tribunal adjourned till Wednesday, July 9, to take witnesses from Dapo Abiodun as he opens his defense.
No comments:
Post a Comment