A mild drama ensued at the Kogi State Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja on Monday, April 1, 2024, as some Social Democratic Party (SDP) witnesses disowned their depositions before the panel.
Four witnesses from Adavi Local Government Area of Kogi State gave their evidence for SDP before the three-member panel of justices, led by Justice Ado Birnin-Kudu.
The SDP witnesses, when called, gave virtually the same narration regarding what transpired where they voted even though they were in different polling units during the November 11, 2023, governorship election in Kogi State.
The four SDP witnesses, like the previous ones, adopted their witness depositions on oath.
However, during cross-examination by the defence counsel, they made claims different from what was in the witness depositions.
When shown their deposition, they disowned it, saying it was not written by them while also confirming that they were not polling agents but random voters.
One of the witnesses, Rufai Muhammed, who said he was from Adavi Local Government of Kogi State, said in his deposition that there was no validly accredited voter for the election.
Upon cross-examination, he however said he was validly accredited to vote and he voted.
When his attention was drawn to his witness deposition on oath which said there was no validly accredited voter for the election that he witnessed, Muhammed denied the deposition, saying he did not write it.
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Another witness, Yakubu AbdulAzeez, said he stood at a particular point throughout the voting period on Election Day observing the proceedings, and that it was from that point he discovered there was over-voting.
AbdulAzeez, who said he stood watching the voting process, however, could not stand during the tribunal hearing.
He told the panel that he had been suffering from a leg problem since 2008 and the panel directed that he should be given a seat.
Claiming that he stood for hours in a spot to monitor an election that took place in November 2023 therefore became an issue of concern.
On his part, Hamza AbdulAzeez said he wrote a letter of complaint to the tribunal that there was over-voting.
But when asked how many votes each political party actually scored in his polling unit, he said he did not know.
The witnesses said their lawyers wrote their depositions for them, but added that they couldn’t remember the names of the lawyers.
The tribunal, therefore, adjourned the matter until April 2 after Jibrin Okutepa (SAN) sought an adjournment.
The SDP is challenging the victory of Governor Usman Ododo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the November 11 governorship election in Kogi State.
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