Adebutu, PDP storm Ogun Tribunal with 8,000 ‘exhibits’ against Abiodun

Idowu Olakunle, Abeokuta

The Ogun State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its Governorship candidate, Hon. Ladi Adebutu yesterday went to the Election Petition Tribunal in the state, with 8,000 documents as exhibits against the state governor and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

However, the said documents could not be tendered before the tribunal following the objections raised by because Counsels to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the APC and the State Governor who are all respondents in the case.

Counsel to Adebutu, Goddy Uche (SAN) presented the documents in various “Ghana-must-go” bags before the Tribunal, sitting at the Magistrate court, Isabo, Abeokuta, Ogun State capital.

He prayed the three-man panel to admit the documents as evidence against Abiodun, arguing that the presentation of the “exhibits” followed the instruction of the court in its pre-hearing report that both petitioners and respondents should present their documents for their cases.

Uche said he had served INEC, Abiodun and the APC, the first, second and third respondents a 98-page schedule of documents, listing all the documents to be tendered before the court.

The documents, according to Uche included: INEC forms, BVAS reports, ECAs, voters’ registers and printed IREV results.

He also prayed the court to allow him call his witnesses for the commencement of trial.

Counsel to the 1st Respondent (INEC), Remi Olatumura, SAN, in his objection on the point of law, said while his team were ready to move on with the case, it is always imperative for the petitioner to have shown the documents to all the parties before then, insisting that he had not set his eye on the document for authentication.

Olatumura further said he owes his client the duty to confirm and certify that those documents actually emanated from INEC and accordingly scrutinize it.

In the same vein, Counsel to the 2nd Respondent, Governor Dapo Abiodun, Kehinde Ogunwunmiju, SAN, opined that going by the volume of the tendered documents and in line with procedure rules, which remain always sacrosanct, the over 6000 documents ought to have been presented from the bar earlier for the benefit of the parties to view and confirm it’s validity.

Ogunwunmiju also informed the tribunal that the PDP’s Counsel had accordingly followed the procedure rules in a . State but decided to act otherwise in Ogun State.

He then stressed that the parties needed more time to check and authenticate the documents, arguing that 24 hours might not be feasible and realistic to scrutinize the voluminous documents, as he also called for the list of witnesses at least 24 hours before the commencement of the case, in which PDP also failed to comply.

Corroborating the positions of the Counsels to the first and the second Respondents, Kunle Kalejaiye, SAN, who represented the 3rd Respondent, APC, submitted that, “We have to look at the documents. The Tribunal has the responsibility to ensure that the needful is done. These are very serious and strategic documents. They should have invited us to come and view.

“I adopt the submissions of the 1st and 2nd respondents accordingly. That all the undisputed documents should be admitted from the bar. For documents to be undisputed such must have been seen by all parties involved in the case. These documents have been sought for many months. We should not be railroad to admittance of documents. I urge Your Lordship to give us reasonable time to inspect”, Kalejaiye submitted.

Ruling on the arguments, the Chairman of the Tribunal, Hon. Justice H.N. Kunaza, agreed on the point of law that the PDP had failed to comply with the court’s directive.