I’m confident of victory at tribunal – Maku

Former Information Minister and the governorship candidate of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), in the April 11 elections in Nasarawa State, Mr. Labaran Maku, says he is confident of victory at the electoral tribunal sitting in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital.

He said that citizens of the state should expect the state to be the first to get justice in this new dispensation. The former minister made the declaration yesterday during a press briefing on the conclusion of their presentations at the electoral tribunal in Abuja.

Maku told the media that at the close of the tribunal presentation on Wednesday, the electoral body (INEC) failed to close its case without a single witness before the tribunal, after filing 25 witnesses and boasting of having enough evidence to counter APGA’s claim of massive irregularities during and after the election.

His words, “rather than bringing the witnesses forward, INEC withdrew its case because its witnesses turned hostile and were not prepared to testify under oath. After all the entries, reviews of witnesses, presentation of documents and motions, claims and counter claims, I am more certain and convinced that Al-Makura ought not to have presented himself ab-initio to be sworn in as governor of Nasarawa state.

“I think it is unfortunate that the electoral act and the constitution allow people who rigged elections to be sworn in as opposed to the constitution in 1979, when electoral petitions were handled before swearing in. For me, the electoral body that proclaimed Al-Makura the winner could not present the witnesses it said it had. It was evident that INEC and APC went for a reckless and fraudulent mutilation of results.”

According to him, ‘Most of the adhoc staff recruited by INEC were APC members, so they did all the damage because if you conduct a survey in the state you will observe that seven out of 10 people will tell you APGA won the election”.