The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday announced that it has lined up 28 witnesses to testify and tender exhibits before the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, sitting in Abuja.
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The party made the disclosure after opening its defence against a petition seeking to nullify the outcome of the governorship election held in Edo State on September 21, 2024. The election was declared in favor of its candidate, Governor Monday Okpebholo.
Among the four witnesses the APC presented before the Justice Wilfred Kpochi-led three-member panel were individuals who served as the party’s Local Government Collation Agents during the disputed election.
The witnesses, led in evidence by APC’s legal team, headed by Mr. Emmanuel Ukala, SAN, took turns explaining why the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) canceled results from certain polling units within their respective local government areas (LGAs).
According to the witnesses, INEC officials discarded results from polling units where over-voting occurred during the collation process.
APC’s first witness, Mr. Afuda Theophilus, a businessman, identified the election results from Esan North East LGA, which had already been admitted as an exhibit before the tribunal.
He informed the tribunal that the election result from his LGA was signed by an agent of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Mr. Theophilus confirmed that under Exhibit PCB-40, titled Ballot Paper and Verification Statement, Part A of the document was expected to be completed by an INEC official before the commencement of polling, while Part B was to be completed after the close of polling.
He further stated that page 6 of Exhibit PCB-40 pertained to Esan North East LGA and clearly indicated that the document was for the governorship election.
He testified that under Part A of the exhibit, the first item required the serial numbers of the ballot papers issued to the polling units. When shown a copy of the document, he confirmed:
“Yes, I can see serial numbers recorded on this document. They are: 0459785 and 0460292.”
He insisted that the serial numbers of the ballot papers issued to the respective polling units were properly recorded.
However, under cross-examination by Mr. A. J. Owonikoko, SAN, a member of the petitioners’ legal team, the witness acknowledged that the PDP had raised allegations of over-voting in one polling unit in Esan North East LGA.
When shown Exhibit PDA-12, the witness confirmed that the total number of accredited voters in Unit 11, Ward 6, was 96. However, after the election, the recorded votes were: APC – 53, PDP – 43, and one rejected vote.
Following a directive by the petitioners’ counsel, the witness calculated the total votes and confirmed that they amounted to 97 instead of 96 accredited voters.
“From the calculation you did just now, do you not agree that there was over-voting?” the petitioners’ counsel asked.
“Yes, but to prove over-voting, you will also need the BVAS report,” the witness responded.
Similarly, the third witness, Engr. Gabriel Iduseri, who identified himself as APC’s Collation Agent for Oredo LGA, told the tribunal that there was no complaint regarding the conduct of the election from agents of any political party that participated in the contest.
However, he admitted that the result from Polling Unit 8, Ward 10, was canceled at the ward collation center due to over-voting. He maintained that the voided results were not included in the results collated and released by INEC through Form EC8C.
The witness explained that it was the responsibility of electoral officers to verify the correctness of results submitted at the LGA level.
When questioned by the petitioners, the witness stated that he had filed his statement on oath in response to the PDP’s claims of incorrect results from his LGA.
Asked if he was aware that the petition listed a table of 53 and 66 polling units in Oredo LGA where the petitioners alleged that INEC recorded results incorrectly, the witness said that although he had read the petition, he could not recall the number of disputed polling units.
Mr. Kamarudeen Coker Bello, the APC’s LGA Collation Agent for Akoko-Edo LGA, stood by his assertion that there was no over-voting in his area. However, he acknowledged that the petitioners were challenging results from 17 polling units in the LGA.
The fourth witness, Hon. Frank David, who served as APC’s Collation Agent for Owan West LGA, testified that INEC officials diligently collated all results from the polling units and that neither he nor any other agent raised objections regarding the final result.
He stated that he, along with agents from the PDP and Labour Party, signed the election results.
*”No one was compelled to sign the result. My election duty only concerned Owan West and no other LGA. Throughout my duty, I had nothing to do with INEC’s IReV system.
“I know that all election materials were designated for specific polling units, and throughout the election in my LGA, no one complained that the wrong result sheet was used in any polling unit.
“I am not aware of any presiding officer being charged to court for failing to record election materials beforehand,”* he added.
Under cross-examination, the witness admitted that while INEC officials were required to record details of sensitive materials issued for the election, he could not confirm whether the procedure was followed, as he did not serve as an electoral official.
When shown the IReV report of Form EC8A for Ward 4, Unit 19, he confirmed that although only 36 persons were accredited, the recorded votes were 28, 1, and 8, totaling 37 votes.
He was also shown another exhibit containing results from Ward 8, Unit 8, where the recorded votes were 54 and 25, amounting to 79, with one rejected vote, making a total of 80 votes.
The witness further testified that results from Unit 5 were not accounted for as they had been canceled due to over-voting.
Meanwhile, the panel adjourned further hearings until Thursday after APC’s lead counsel, Ukala, SAN, stated that the party was preparing a schedule of documents to be tendered when proceedings resumed.
It will be recalled that INEC had closed its defense in the gubernatorial poll without presenting any witnesses before the tribunal.
The Commission had declared that Okpebholo of the APC secured a total of 291,667 votes to defeat his closest rival, Asue Ighodalo of the PDP, who garnered 247,655 votes.
Dissatisfied with the election outcome, the PDP and its candidate filed a petition before the tribunal, seeking to nullify INEC’s declaration of APC and Okpebholo as winners of the contest.
The petitioners contended that the governorship election was invalid due to alleged non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
They further argued in petition EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024 that Governor Okpebholo of the APC did not secure the highest number of lawful votes cast in the election.
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