Akpabio To Election Tribunal: Give Me One Week To Present My Witnesses

Senate minority leader, Chief Godswill Akpabio today, September 5, told the Akwa Ibom state election petition tribunal

that he is not yet ready to open his defence.

The All Progressive Congress candidate in the election, Chief Inibehe Okori had approached the tribunal challenging the declaration of Akpabio as the winner of the election.

Akpabio’s counsel, Paul Usoro, had requested for a one week grace period from the tribunal’s chairman, Justice Goddy Anunihu, in order for him to get witnesses that will testify on behalf of his client.

Although the request was objected to by the counsel to the APC candidate, Chief Assam Assam (SAN), Justice Anunihu granted the request but warned that failure to commence after one week will come with dire consequences to the defendant.

The tribunal had earlier ruled that the petitioners cannot tender their forensic report because they failed to list the name of the witness among those they intended to call at the time they filed their petition.

In its ruling, the tribunal opined that  the relief sought could not come at this stage where the trial is now because it was brought outside the pre-hearing session.

But the tribunal granted them leave for the inspection of election materials used in the conduct of the March polls, Daily Trust reports.

Meanwhile, a forensic report by a forensic expert and data analyst, Abdullahi Dauda, has dismissed the credibility of the election.  Dauda’s report claimed that the election was “defective both to science and commonness because it was practically impossible for the number of voters who were accredited to have produced the number of votes counted during the inspection, let alone produce the number of votes INEC declared for the election”.

Part of the statement read: “From our inspection, analysis and examination, 205,519 accredited voters are incapable of producing 333,528 ballots, and could certainly not cast the 443,363 votes announced as the total votes cast at the said election. I found a total of 91,502 ballot papers from the seven local governments with multiple thumb prints in favour of PDP in the ballot papers made available to us by INEC.

Recall that Akpabio recently escaped death after his car got involved in an accident along Airport Road in Abuja. The accident happened on Monday, August 31, near the Bolingo junction close to the Ship House, Abuja.

The former governor of Akwa Ibom state has since being flown to London for medical treatment.