The candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi West senatorial district, Senator Smart Adeyemi, on Monday closed his case before the National and State Assembly Election Tribunal that is adjudicating on the February 23 national assembly election.
The petitioner was challenging the declaration of the incumbent lawmaker, Senator Dino Melaye, as the winner of the poll by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
At the resumed sitting of the tribunal in Abuja, counsel to the petitioner, Chief Toyin Adeniyi, called three witnesses to further prove that Melaye did not win the election and should not have been declared the winner of the election.
The witnesses were Adeyemi, who was the star witness, the Director-General, Adeyemi Campaign Organisation, Mr Adoga Ibrahim, and the Kogi west zonal Chairman of APC, Mr Ropo Asala, who were also cross-examined by the respondents’ counsels.
Adeyemi’s counsel pleaded for the admissibility of the February 15, 2019 Kogi High Court judgement which declared that elections collation, announcement and other matters as regarded Kogi West election should be carried out at the district headquarters in Kabba and not in Lokoja; which was ignored by INEC which runs contrary to the Electoral Act and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
He said the change of collation centres gave room for all the manipulations, tampering, mutilations of results sheets and other irregularities witnessed in the election results.
He also prayed the court to admit INEC letter of certified true copy of list of PVC distributions in the senatorial axis which indicate over voting in three of the challenged LGAs of Yagba West, Lokoja and Ijumu.
The tribunal had earlier during the trial accepted the INEC certified copy of PVC distributions in the senatorial axis.
However, counsel to 2nd and 3rd Respondents, (PDP and INEC) did not challenge the admissibility of the High court judgment but asked the tribunal to reject INEC letter of PVC distribution because it was not “listed or front loaded” by the petitioner’s at the beginning of the petition.
Chairman of the three – man panel, Justice O. A Chijoke readmitted the February 15 High Court judgment as evidence but declined to accept INEC letter of PVC distribution, said it should be marked as “tendered but rejected”.
The tribunal subsequently adjourned to June 10 and gave the respondents (Dino, PDP, INEC) 15 days to open and close their defenses.
