According to the Guardian, on Sunday, Mr. Chijioke Edoga, the candidate for the Labour Party (LP) in the governorship race, concluded his presentation of evidence challenging Gov. Peter Mbah’s victory in the March 18th election before the Enugu election tribunal.
After summoning 30 witnesses and one witness subpoenaed from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), namely Mr. Victor Okafor, they substantiated their claims.
The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal is currently presiding over Mr. Chijioke Edoga’s petition against the election of Peter Mbah, representing the PDP, as governor.
Edeoga is urging the tribunal to disqualify Mbah based on an alleged fabrication of his NYSC certificate and manipulation of election results.
During the hearing, the INEC summoned witness, Okafor, who informed the Tribunal that his organization had supplied five Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) devices, as stated in the subpoena list.
Mr. Eyitayo Fatogun (SAN), the counsel representing the LP, presented the five BVAS machines to the Tribunal. However, Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu, counsel for the PDP, and Mr. Alex Izinyon, Mbah’s counsel, raised objections to the admission of the machines as evidence.
The attorneys stated that they would disclose their reasons in their closing statements. Nevertheless, the tribunal accepted the BVAS machines as valid evidence.
Under cross-examination by Fatogun, the summoned witness confirmed that the data generated by the BVAS machines during the governorship election on March 18th was now included in the BVAS report received from the Headquarters in Abuja.
He stated that he did not have the BVAS machines for the registration areas of Owo and Ugboka in Nkanu East Local Government Area. He further mentioned that the machines could only be identified through their respective codes.
As per his statement, the codes of the five BVAS machines presented are as follows: 14/08/06/003, 14/08/01/002, 14/08/06/005, 14/08/17/012, and 14/08/01/003. He clarified, “All the machines contained the BVAS system and its accompanying accessories.”
He stated that he was unable to provide any additional details about the BVAS machines beyond what he had already mentioned, as the machines had not been utilized since the election took place.
In response to Izinyon, Mbah’s counsel, the summoned witness explained that the machines could only store successfully uploaded accredited information.
The last two witnesses presented by the LP, Mr. Godwin Abba and Amos Onyebuchi, who served as LP agents in Ette Central and Ikwele Ugbele, respectively, both hailing from Igbo-Etiti North LGA, attested to instances of overvoting at their respective polling units during the governorship election.
After the petitioner concluded presenting their case, Dr. Valerie Azinge, the lead counsel for the petitioner, expressed her appreciation to the Tribunal for their patience and formally concluded the case.
Mr. H. Okoli, representing INEC, submitted a request for a date to begin their defense. In response, Justice M. K. Akano, the Chairman of the Tribunal, scheduled the matter to reconvene on July 18th, allowing INEC to commence its defense.
Temmyabbe (
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