The three-man- panel of the Delta State Governorship Election Petition was Tuesday shocked when the petitioners’ star witnesses reeled out bundles of contradictions, inconsistencies and outright misinformation during cross-examination.
The Labour Party (LP) and its gubernatorial candidate in the April 11 governorship election in the State, Chief Great Ogboru are challenging the election victory of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa at the polls .
At the resumed hearing of the matter Tuesday in Asaba, counsel to LP and Ogboru, Mr. Dele Adesina (SAN) opened his cases with a parade of eight witnesses who testified in the open court in the bid to prove their cases.
Soon after Adesina concluded his examination of the witnesses, which was limited to just the adoption of the witness’ deposition statements on oath, counsels to Okowa, PDP and INEC, Mr. Ken Mozia (SAN), Mr. Timothy Kehinde (SAN) and Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) commenced vigorous cross examination of the witnesses.
Specifically, the petitioner’s witness number five (PW5), one Mr. Hero Inetiabor who claimed to be LP local government election agent and supervisor confirmed under cross examination that he agreed with all the depositions in his witness statement on oath as a polling unit agent.
He said he felt disappointed that LP and Ogboru did not mention in their petition that ballot boxes were stuffed with papers.
He said as a party agent, he saw people carrying ballot papers in their pocket but could not clarify whether they were PDP agents who were stuffing ballot papers into ballot boxes.
Inetiabor said during the governorship election, that accreditation and voting took place within the time allotted by INEC, although, that he left his polling unit after he voted , as such could not give account of what transpired while he was away.
He said on the day of the election that he was moving from one ward to another even when he acknowledged the fact that there was a restriction order by the police and INEC that voters should not move outside their voting environment, except accredited party agents, yet he told the court that he was not accredited by INEC as his name was not submitted by his party.
Inetiabor told the court that some PDP thugs attacked the polling unit where he was, but that he did not lodge the complaint with the police or the INEC office, even when his party LP engaged in campaigns while election was on going because other parties in the election were also campaigning.
He said as a party agent, he could not remember the number of voters that were accredited for voting for the election in his polling unit, saying that it will be surprising to him to know that 361 voters were accredited.
He told the tribunal that the polling unit under his control is located at Asaba Girls Grammar School, but when confronted with the court records, he reverted it to Anglican Girls Grammar School.
The 5th petitioner’s witness and LP chairman in Ika South local government area, Mr. Victor Akpeye told the tribunal that he did not know if LP sent names of accredited party agents to INEC for the conduct of the election, even when the party did not appoint him as a polling unit agent.
He told the tribunal that he does not know whether the LP forwarded his name as a party agent, even when the party did appoint him as an agent to polling unit in the local government, yet he said he was not allowed entrance into the INEC vote collation center, where he was to represent the party, adding that he could not remember the number of the polling units he visited.
Under further cross examination, Akpeye told the tribunal that he was in charge of all the other agents in the local government, yet his name was missing from the INEC accredited list for agents.
Another petitioner’s witness (PW6) Mr. David Utomi told the court that he did not report the rigging of the election to INEC and the police, yet he prepared a report on the development which he submitted to his party.
He said he visited the wards 4, 6 and 9 of Anio-Obodo primary school , in Ubulu-Uku, during the election , but the records when he was confronted with them showed that the correct name of the ward is Ashaba Ubulu primary school.
He further told the tribunal that he was a collation agent but the tribunal record showed that he was a polling unit officer.
The 7th petitioner’s witness, Mr. Ochuko Alaba who identified himself as a lecturer in Delta state University told the tribunal that he will not give a yes or no answer to the respondents’ question as to whether he signed under duress or not, but the tribunal records showed that he signed and did not state whether it was done under duress.
Alaba declined most of the questions put to him by the lawyers which resulted into series of altercations between him and the counsels which prompted the intervention of the tribunal chairman that he should answer directly questions put to him.
When confronted with the section of the law that prohibits public officers from holding positions such as party agent, Alaba faulted the law, saying it does not apply in his case as he was a civil servant.
