Edo Election: PDP witness testifies on alleged irregularities, faces questioning from APC, Okpebholo’s teams

A witness for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) told the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja on Tuesday how the last governorship election in the state was marred by irregularities.

Oseyili Anenih, whose party is challenging the outcome of the disputed poll, alleged in his testimony before the three-member tribunal that there were irregularities in 765 of the state’s 4,519 polling units.

The PDP and its governorship candidate, Asue Ighodalo, lodged a joint petition at the tribunal to challenge the outcome of the 21 September 2024 Edo State election.

They urged the tribunal to nullify the outcome of the governorship election, alleging non-compliance with the Electoral Act and arguing that Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) did not secure the majority of valid votes.

Mr Anenih, who is the Director of Research and Strategy for the PDP in Edo State, was in court as the petitioners’ 12th witness on Thursday.

The witness, who earlier opened his testimony during previous proceedings which took place in Benin City before the tribunal relocated to Abuja, faced a barrage of questions under cross-examination from the respondents’ lawyers, putting his claims to the test.

He admitted that he did not personally visit the polling units in question but relied on reports submitted by party agents and election experts.

He told the tribunal that some of the evidence presented, including election results (Form EC8A), was marred by issues such as missing signatures and illegible copies.

However, he maintained that his findings indicated that PDP’s candidate would have won the election if lawful votes were accurately collated.

BVAS data and INEC certification discrepancies

Responding to questions from Governor Okpebholo’s lawyer, Onyechi Ikpeazu, a SAN, Mr Anenih admitted that he had no physical access to the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines used during the election. Instead, he relied on screenshots of BVAS data, which were tendered as evidence.

Mr Anenih added that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had been subpoenaed to produce the BVAS machines before the tribunal.

Also fielding questions from APC’s lawyer, Emmanuel Ukala, also a SAN, Mr Anenih admitted he was not trained by INEC to play any role in the election and confirmed that none of the polling unit results was handed to him directly by PDP agents.

Results authentication under scrutiny

Mr Anenih acknowledged that some local government collation agents bypassed the state collation centre to deliver results directly to him.

He said that a portion of the election results provided by party agents was not stamped by INEC, although three of the 16 results in one of the exhibits were stamped.

“To us, the three stamped results are significant enough, representing almost 20 per cent,” the witness said.

Mr Anenih was discharged at the end of the cross-examination by the respondents’ lawyers on Thursday.

Proceedings cut short

Meanwhile, the tribunal members criticised the petitioners over their inability to present additional witnesses after Mr Anenih on Tuesday.

The petitioners’ lawyer, Adetunji Oyeyipo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), attributed the absence of their other witnesses to “travel disruptions” and requested an adjournment.

“My Lords, this is why we are unable to present them today. We respectfully ask for a new date. On the next adjourned date, we will bring as many witnesses as the tribunal can accommodate,” Mr Oyeyipo pleaded, promising to streamline their witness list.

The three-member tribunal, led by Wilfred Kpochi, expressed dissatisfaction with the petitioners’ failure to proceed.

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“What you are telling us is not acceptable. Why did we ask the other petitioners to take fresh dates if you were not ready? We could have heard them today,” Mr Kpochi said angrily.

The judge insisted that the witnesses should be called immediately but relented after Mr Oyeyipo said that the witnesses were not in the right frame of mind to testify after their travel ordeals.

Mr Kpochi adjourned the hearing till 30 January, for the continuation of proceedings.

Tribunal’s relocation to Abuja

Tuesday’s sitting was the tribunal’s first in Abuja, following Friday’s announcement of its relocation from Benin City to Abuja.

“I am directed to notify all parties that the governorship election petitions tribunal, sitting in Benin City, Edo State, has been relocated to Abuja at the National Judicial Institute (NJI), Airport Road, Abuja, effective from Monday, 27 January 2025,” the tribunal secretary said.

Mr Anenih, the petitioners’ 12th witness, already started his testimony in Benin, before the announcement of the relocation.

At the previous sitting, the respondents’ lawyers had requested the tribunal to adjourn proceedings to afford them more time to prepare for the cross-examination of the witness, after the petitioners’ counsel spent over two hours leading him in evidence.

But Mr Oyeyipo opposed the application, contending that the documents referred to by the witness were already known to the respondents.

However, the tribunal sided with the respondents and adjourned the proceedings till (Tuesday).