The immediate past Senate president, Senator David Mark is said to be secretly making moves to persuade his opponent to withdraw the suit before National Assembly election tribunal.
David Mark
Dan Onjeh of the All Progressives Congress contested the March 28 National Assembly election with Mark, who ran on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.
However, Mark was returned elected for the fifth time but Onjeh believed that the election was marred with irregularities, Daily Post reports.
Onjeh had dragged Mark before National Assembly election tribunal for the notification of the poll.
He sought and obtained the permission of the tribunal to inspect electoral materials. It was during the inspection that it was discovered that the votes counted for Mark was more than the number of accredited voters.
This new finding is expected to be presented to the court when it resumes for further sitting while Mark is expected to appear in person when the tribunal reconvenes on Monday, August 17.
It was gathered that Mark in his bid to prevent further exposure had sent his trusted associates to prevail on Onjeh to drop the suit so that they can reach a gentle man agreement on the case.
A close source said: “Onjeh is not ready to meet with or entertain any offer from Mark and his loyalists. They have tried as much as possible to bring him for a one-on-one meeting with Mark but it did not yield any fruit.”
Confirming Mark’s move, Onjeh said the former Senate president had sent his associates to beg him to drop the suit, adding that he refused to accept the offers being made on behalf of Mark because he his determined to follow the case to a logical conclusion.
In a reaction, Mark’s aide who did not want to be named, spoke with Daily Post reporter on telephone, saying: “Anybody who thinks Mark will beg Onjeh is dreaming. Beg him for what, that he did not win the election or what? Let them go and check the margin and stop dreaming. Senator Mark is too busy to stoop so low.”
Meanwhile, three out of eight witnesses lined up by Mark to testify on his behalf refused to appear at the tribunal, a development that could have a potential effect on his defence line in the ongoing case.
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