The National/State Assembly Elections Petitions Tribunal in Makurdi has been informed by Mr. Raphael Odoh, the Labour Party candidate for the Ado/Ogbadibo/Okpokwu Federal Constituency in Benue State, that the election he is contesting was free and fair in his Okpoga North Council Ward of the Okpokwu Local Government Area, LGA.
The Labour Party and Mr. Odoh are contesting Philip Agbese’s victory on the grounds that the Electoral Act of 2022’s provisions were not adhered to. Agbese is a candidate for the All Progressives Congress, or APC.
During Mr. Odoh’s cross-examination by the legal representative of the APC, Sam Oyege stated before the tribunal that “the election was free and fair in my polling unit, the 30 polling units I visited, and the entire Okpoga North Council Ward.”
While still being questioned by Oyege under cross-examination, the petitioner admitted to the court that he did not spend the entire election stationed in a single voting place. He agreed with Oyege that he couldn’t have any direct knowledge of what happened in those polling stations before or after he arrived.
When asked about the BVAS by Adetunji Oso, Philip Agbese’s attorney, Mr. Odoh responded that he had been given permission to use the device before casting his ballot and that it functioned properly in Okpoga North.
When asked by Mr. Oso if it was true to say that the election in Okpoga North was free and fair and free of the non-compliance mentioned in the petition, Mr. Oddo responded, “Yes.”
Mr. Oso then asked permission from the tribunal to present the Okpoga West Council Ward of the Okpokwu LGA result sheet.
The chief justice of the tribunal, Amina Aliyu, referred to the agreement reached at the conclusion of the pre-trial conference, when it was decided that all INEC documents would be admitted without raising a question. The petitioners’ attorney, Mr. Mark Ofiku, objected to the document’s admission.
He then withdrew his protest, and the tribunal admitted the Okpoga North West result sheet as evidence.
The chairman of the three-person panel opted to postpone the hearing after the petitioners’ attorney orally requested a postponement.
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