Ogun: Tribunal Throws Out PDP’s Objection, As Cases Of Alleged Forgery, Impersonation Persist
In continuation of proceedings at the Ogun State governorship election petition tribunal sitting in Abeokuta, the panel on Friday overruled an objection raised by counsel to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over inexplicably repetitive statements made by its different witnesses in different polling units.
This is even as falsehoods by witnesses called by the party continue to be uncovered.
There were reports from the tribunal in the past days of a plethora of evidence establishing alleged impersonation and similarities in the witnesses’ statements brought forward by different individuals called by the PDP to testify in its favour.
Counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had raised observations and asked questions on similarities in the PDP witnesses’ statements and several cases of inconsistencies, in which the petitioner’s counsel objected but was swiftly overruled by the panel.
The development was unanimously endorsed by all the counsels to the respondents, as another witness called by the PDP, Isau Lawal, from Makun, Sagamu, allegedly lied to have applied to INEC for certified true copies of documents in respect of the case under review and in the same breath admitted that none of such documents was tendered before the tribunal.
Also, an alleged case of impersonation was established against the PDP’s witness, when counsel to All Progressives Congress (APC), called out a different name, Yewande Babatunde, as the PDP’s polling agent at PU002, Ward 12, where Lawal claimed to have worked as the party’s agent, even as he has no means of identification to substantiate his claim that he was the party’s agent.
He, however, admitted knowing Yewande Babatunde, the rightful agent of the party.
