On Tuesday, the INEC delivered forms EC8A, EC8B, and EC8C of various polling units, wards, and Local Government Areas to the Kaduna Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in the state.
The forms cover wards in the nine LGAs of Birnin-Gwari, Igabi, Kaduna North, Kubau, Lere, Sabon-Gari, Zaria, and Kudan.
The tribunal, presided over by Justice Victor Oviawe, had previously ordered the Commission to produce original copies of the aforementioned documents, which included form EC8D of the state’s 23 Local Government Areas.
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This was based on the petitioners’ plea, which included the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate for the state’s governorship election in 2023, Hon. Isa Ashiru.
Oluwole Iyamu, SAN, the lead counsel for the PDP and Ashiru, challenged the validity of the results from 11 polling units in Birnin-Gwari, 20 in Igabi, 4 in Kaduna North, 44 in Kaduna South, 12 in Kubau, 9 in Lere, 8 in Sabon-Gari, 4 in Zaria, and 5 in Kudan Local Government Areas of the state.
During the hearings, he stated that some of the documents submitted by the INEC were not original copies as asked.
Iyamu also requested a court order allowing the original copies of the document to remain in the court’s custody while witnesses are present.
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“The idea was for some of these witnesses to identify discrepancies between the original, certified copies, and duplicates that were given at the time of the election,” he explained.
However, INEC’s counsel, Abdullahi Aliyu, SAN, protested, claiming that keeping the original documents in the custody of the court for more than 24 hours would be a violation of the election act.
In their submissions, the counsel for the first (INEC), second (Uba Sani), and third (APC) argued that because the documents requested to be presented at the court by the INEC were public documents, all parties involved needed certified copies of the documents before presenting them to the tribunal.
They also objected to the admissibility of some of the materials produced before the tribunal by the PDP and Ashiru’s lawyer in nine wards extending from Giwa to Lere LGAs.
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Responding to media’ inquiries shortly after the court sessions, Chief Duro Adeyele, counsel to incumbent Governor Uba Sani, stated, “Our ultimate prayer is that the petition be dismissed, and that is what we are here for.”
“The reason for that is what we are going to present in our defence, and it is not for the press.”
After the panel chaired by Justice Victor Oviawe considered the representations of both counsels, the matter was continued until July 12, 2023 for the continuation of cross-examination of the INEC witness.
