726 witnesses to testify at tribunal in Enugu

No fewer than 726 witnesses are listed to testify before the National Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal in Enugu state, the Chairman of the panel, Justice Haruna Kereng has said.

Justice Kereng disclosed this during the resumed sitting of the tribunal in Enugu. The tribunal chairman, who said that the witnesses would testify in 10 election cases, noted that there was need to speed up the hearing processes.

He said that the tribunal which was still in pre-trial stage had spent more than half of the time allotted it by law to dispose of petitions.

He therefore, appealed to counsels before the tribunal to cooperate with members of the bench in their resolve to dispose of the petitions on time, expressing doubt on the possibility of concluding all the petitions within time considering the number of witnesses that would be paraded.

The tribunal chairman said it was sad that all counsels insisted on calling all their witnesses, adding that one of the cases has over 110 witnesses.

“We appeal to all counsels to get the statement on oath of their witnesses. The tribunal has powers to streamline the number of witnesses, but all counsels are insisting on calling all their witnesses.

“If you insist on calling all your witnesses, we do not know how we will end. We are appealing to you to help us because the task before us is enormous,” he said.

The chairman however, said that the justices of the tribunal would not act in ways that counsels would feel they had not presented their cases.

However, he warned that the panel members will not allow counsels to stall the tribunal’s sittings, adding that the “tribunal shall allocate time and date for the witnesses to appear and testify. Any application brought one or two days to our sitting shall not be entertained.”