Edo Guber: Tribunal to announce date for judgement

Counsels to the parties in the Edo state governorship election petition tribunal, on Monday gave their final submissions and addresses to the tribunal, as the chairman of the tribunal, Justice Ahmed Badamasi, expressed satisfaction with their conduct and ruled that the date for the judgment will be communicated to them.

The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the September 28, 2016 governorship election in the state, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, had gone to the tribunal asking it to declare him winner of the election and urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw the certificate of returns issued to the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Godwin Obaseki, who was declared winner of the election by the INEC.

It was another display of legal fireworks as the counsels were given Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), and Lateef Fagbemi, counsels to INEC, Obaseki and APC respectively, buttresses their arguments on the point of law, urging the tribunal to dismiss Ize-Iyamu’s petition as it failed to proof beyond reasonable doubt the petition before the tribunal.

But counsel to Ize-Iyamu and the PDP, Yusuf Ali (SAN), insisted that they have provided the tribunal with the evidences needed by the tribunal to upturn the election of Obaseki, asserting that there was merit in their petition and that Ize-Iyamu should be declared the authentic winner of the election.

Each of the counsels were given 20 minutes to address the court on point of law. Counsel to the INEC, Ikpeazu (SAN), in his addressed noted that the PDP candidate invited ward collating officers as witnesses “and they cannot be super human to be in all the polling units where election held to know what actually happened. They also canvassed the issue of over voting and for over voting to be proved there must be ballot paper counting and certified before the court and as far as this court is concerned there was no counting of any ballot paper here.”

And on the argument made by the petitioner that INEC failed to produce a witness, Ikpeazu asserted that “INEC is not obliged to produce a witness because the burden of proof lies on the petitioner. INEC would have done that if the burden has shifted. We relied on the case of Audu VS Anazodo. It is not for INEC to call evidence it is for the petitioner to proof his case beyond reasonable doubt”.

On his part, Olanipekun pointed out that “we have issues with the identity of the petitioner because we have conflicting names given to us by the petition. Apart from that the petitioners abandoned their case completely and pursued the issue of counting without providing evidence to proof their case. If there is any petition crying for evidence this is one my Lord. It should be dismissed.”

Fagbemi SAN argued that “from all we have seen by the petitioner, there is a disconnect between the petition, the evidence and written addresses. The petitioner called witnesses without providing the evidence. In an election matter where there is request for nullification, the onus lies on the petitioner to proof. Your Lordship cannot grant an order which is totally useless.”

He added that “even if my Lords for instance decides to grant them the mathematics they are doing, despite all their pitfalls, Obaseki will still win with 58, 696 votes.

Counsel to Ize-Iyamu, Ali SAN, urged the tribunal to disregard the submissions made by Counsels to the Respondents, asserting that “I have ten points why this tribunal should grant our prayers. We have proofed our evidence before this tribunal and everything pointed at INEC, that they did not conduct the election according to the electoral laws. And even the Respondent agreed with us that they election was not free and fair during proceedings.

“From what the Counsels to the Respondents are saying, they are asking the Tribunal to jettison the issue of the voters register. In Peterside VS Nwike the Supreme Court stated that the voters register is even well recognized by the Electoral Act than the card reader. So we have provided the Tribunal with the evidences needed in this case and we urge it to declared Ize-Iyamu the authentic winner of the election.”

Chairman of the Tribunal, Justice Badamasi, who commended the counsels for their cooperation throughout the trial, said a date for judgment will be communicated to the parties.