Ogun: Adebutu to call 263 witnesses as tribunal resumes sitting today

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

As the Ogun State Election Petition Tribunal resumes sitting tomorrow, July 4, the petitioner, Ladi Adebutu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is expected to call no fewer than 263 witnesses.
He is also expected to tender over 60 different categories of documents to prove his claims that irregularities marred the Ogun election.
Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Abiodun the winner of the March 18 governorship election held across the 20 local governments of Ogun State.
But Adebutu, who came second in the election, had rejected the result, filing a petition before the tribunal.
In his petition, the candidate alleged that, in the election, there were cases of over-voting, ballot box snatching, disruptions by violence, manipulations, inflation of figures, noncompliance with the electoral act and other malpractices.
Adebutu and the PDP also accused INEC of failing to adhere to the margin of lead principle, saying Abiodun was returned in error because the number of voters in places where elections were cancelled was more than the difference between the votes scored by both candidates.
During its last adjournment, the tribunal had said it would resume on July 4 and 5 when Adebutu would tender all unopposed documents and thereafter call his witnesses.
It is apparent that the PDP leader has indicated that he would call at least 263 witnesses to back up his claims.
According to the certified true copy of his petition, Adebutu listed the witnesses that would testify in the case, even though the majority of the witnesses were listed with codes to shield their identities.
In the petition, Adebutu himself is the number one witness, while some of the other witnesses were listed as OGSC, AN1, AN2, AN3, AS4, AS5, AO6, AO7, IF9, IF10, SA95, OD98, VT99 and others.
Adebutu said he would call a forensic/fingerprint expert and a statistician to testify in the case.
Aside from this, the former lawmaker disclosed that there would be a “subpoenaed witness from the Circuit and County Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida, United States of America.”
He added that INEC staff would be subpoenaed to produce documents and testify.
At the hearing of the petition, the petitioners said they shall rely on all necessary and relevant documents. These include BVAS CTC reports, BVAS machine physical inspection reports, IReV CTC reports, statisticians report and forensic/fingerprint experts reports.
Others are all INEC-certified result sheets and electoral materials, Form EC8 series ―EC8A, EC8B, EC8C, EC8D, EC8D(A) and EC8E―certificate of return received by petitioners’ agents at the election among others.
Abiodun’s counsel, Taiwo Osipitan, has told Adebutu to prove his allegations before the court, saying he and his team are ready to defend the governor.
The governor, in his response, accused Adebutu of engaging in massive vote buying, asking the court to dismiss his petition.