By Editor
The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, on Friday closed his case at the Election Petition Tribunal Tribunal, after calling 94 witnesses.
The petitioner, who is challenging the alleged refusal of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to comply with the Electoral Act, also tendered over 200,000 documents before the tribunal to prove his case.
Adebutu, in his petition, alleged that elections were disrupted by hoodlums, suspected to be political thugs in over 99 polling units, disenfranchising over 40,000 voters from participating in the March 18 governorship polls.
Adebutu called voters and party agents from Sagamu, Ikenne, Odogbolu, Remo North, Ogun Waterside, Ijebu-Ode, Abeokuta South, Abeokuta North, Ado-Odo/Ota and other local governments as witnesses to prove that there were disruptions in different polling units across the State.
The petitioner also summoned, with a subpoena, two INEC ad-hoc staff, an official of the West African Examination Council (WAEC), a statistician and a forensic expert to testify before the tribunal.
Adebutu also tendered in evidence, certified true copies of INEC electoral materials, result sheets, voters registers, printouts from the Bimodal Voters Accreditation (BVAS) machines, incident forms, video evidence, forensic reports, etc.
He and the PDP said they have closed their cases, waiting for the respondents; INEC, Abiodun and the APC to open their defence.
Speaking with newsmen after the sitting, Counsel to the petitioners, Chris Uche, disclosed that, “We have called 94 witnesses on behalf of the petitioners and we have tendered over 200,000 INEC documents before the court as well as our own documents.”
Uche explained that, having done all these, “we formerly ended the calling of witnesses on behalf of the petitioners. It is the turn of the respondents to start their response. They have asked for an adjournment to Wednesday, which has been granted to them.
“When we come on Wednesday, we’ll find out what their defence to all these various allegations in respect of which we’ve brought overwhelming evidence before the court is. And we are going to confront them with all these documents we have tendered if they call their witnesses.”
Meanwhile, INEC is expected to open its defence on Wednesday, being the first respondent in the petition.
INEC’s Counsel, Abiodun Owonikoko, during the pre-hearing session, told the tribunal that the electoral umpire would be calling just one witness.
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Why I told my abductors to release my wife – Former FCE Abeokuta provost
Dr. Ayodele Ajayi, Former Provost, Federal College of Education (FCE), Abeokuta, on Friday, stated that he had to appeal to his abductors to let his wife go so that she could be able to run around and source for fund to pay the kidnappers.
Ajayi , who narrated his experience to newsmen in Abeokuta on Friday after regaining his freedom from the kidnappers, said that the plea actually made them to allow his wife to go.
OgunToday reports that the former provost, alongside his driver were kidnapped in Olodo, along Abeokuta- Ibadan road on Tuesday.
He explained that he never believed his people could go that extra mile to raise such fund for him to be released.
” I never believed my people could raise what they raised but who will have somebody whose life is in danger and will not go extra mile to look for money .
” It’s not that they had the money but they just go everywhere because they kept on phoning them, go and get more money,” he said.
Ajayi stated that only checkpoints on the roads could not solve the issue of kidnapping.
He called on security agencies to be more proactive and not wait until incidences happened before they acted.
He called for massive combing of forests along the roads especially the olodo axis by military personnel.
Ajayi advised people to delete their financial transactions from their mobile phones, use code to save names on phones especially important dignitaries.
” Avoid using mobile Bank Apps, try keep phones with Bank Apps at home and use small phones without mobile apps and bank transactions on it,” he said.
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