Delta guber polls: Tribunal cautions Ogboru over unruly conduct as Okowa closes case against APC; PDP, INEC to open defense

The three –man panel of the Delta State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Asaba, Wednesday expressed dissatisfaction over the unruly behavior and conduct of the petitioner’s witness.
The Chairman of the Tribunal, Justice Nasiru Gunmi, while presiding over the cross examination of the 13th witness to the petitioners; the Labour Party (LP) and its gubernatorial candidate, Chief Great Ogboru, repeatedly cautioned Turner Ogboru over his disobedience to Tribunal’s procedures and rules.
Turner Ogboru, the younger brother to Great Ogboru, while testifying at the Tribunal in the petition challenging the electoral victory of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, had declined to give a direct answer of “yes or no,” to questions put to him by the respondents’ counsels during cross examination.
Efforts by counsels to PDP, INEC and Okowa, Timothy Kehinde (SAN), Damian Dodo (SAN) and Alex Iziyon (SAN) to make him comply proved abortive as he (Turner Ogboru) would rather relapse into lengthy narratives in attempts at answering the questions.
The witness’ approach and conduct infuriated the panel of judges after he had been warned a couple of times to comply with instructions.
Justice Gunmi said, “Don’t stretch our patience, maybe we have to take an adjournment and ask your counsel to advice you on how to behave.
“You are a witness in this matter, whatever relationship you have with counsels does not count here, and you should answer the questions directly, so please help us. I want you to know that the evidence you give will determine your case, if you do not comport yourself, I do not know how you are helping in this matter.”
After relative calm in the tribunal, following infuriating altercations between counsels to Okowa, PDP and INEC, and petitioner’s witness, Turner Ogboru told the tribunal that he was not desperate at securing victory for his brother and LP at the Tribunal.
When confronted with contradicting figures in his depositions, Ogboru pleaded with the Tribunal to expunge pages 60 and 61 of his statement on oath saying “there is error in the chart, it is not correct, please expunge that portion.”
He acknowledged the error in his reports and statement on oath before the Tribunal, which he said arose from his failure to consult the voters register while compiling his report.
He told the Tribunal that the depositions were not wholly his idea as his counsel assisted in preparing the report.
Turner also informed the court that similar mistakes were noticed in the report deposed to by the Labour Party (LP) chairman, Mr. Toni Ezeagwu, because it followed the same pattern of being doctored by their counsels.
Meanwhile, Counsel to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, Dr. Alex Iziyon (SAN) has told the Tribunal that he has closed his case with the All Progressives Congress (APC), having called four witnesses in the matter to prove his case
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are set to open their defense against APC and Otega Emerhor on Friday September 18, 2015.