Former Osun State Governor, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola; and his party, the All Progressives Congress, the petitioners before the state’s Election Petition Tribunal hearing matters emanating from last 16th July governorship election closed their case on Saturday.
Also at the hearing, the panel admitted original copies of Form CF001 and all its attachments used by the state’s new governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, to contest the 2018 governorship elections. Adeleke was sworn in as governor last Sunday upon the expiration of Oyetola’s first term of four years.
The documents presented to the panel by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), through a Deputy Director, Joan Arabs, after counselling the petitioners, Mr Lateef Fagbemi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), had checked through them, were admitted as exhibits.
Earlier, counsel to INEC, the first respondent in the matter, Mr Henry Akunebo, informed the panel that an original file of Adeleke’s General Certificate Examination (GCE) results, testimonial as contained in Form CF001 he used to contest the 2018 election, had been brought by his client in compliance with the order of the Tribunal.
At last Thursday’s sitting, INEC, on subpoena by the panel, had presented the documents, but Adeleke’s GCE results and testimonial obtained from Ede Muslim Grammar School, Ede, were noted to be blurry and the commission was ordered to bring a clearer copy at the next sitting.
Counsel to Adeleke, the second respondent in the matter, Mr Niyi Owolade, and that of PDP, the third respondent, Dr Alex Izinyon, SAN, said they had gone through original copies brought by the first respondent, noting that the documents were more legible than the previous ones presented.
After going through the documents, Fagbemi, who represented the petitioners, said they were legible enough and applied to tender them before the panel.
But counsel to the respondents opposed the tendering of the documents, but reserved their argument till the final written address stage.
Izinyon also said the entire documents and its attachment could not be admitted, since only two pages were said to be blurry, out of the ones previously brought by INEC.
But Fagbemi insisted that the entire documents should be admitted since the copies earlier brought by INEC had not been admitted by the panel.
The panel admitted all the original documents brought by INEC and tagged them as exhibit ‘FILE D.’
Addressing the panel, Fagbemi said that the petitioners had closed their case.
The panel chairman, Justice Tetse Kume adjourned further hearing till 20th December for the respondents to open their case.
BAMGBELU ADENIYI AKINYEMI
4 December 2022 at 2:45 am
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