The 2019 Governorship Elections Petitions Tribunal sitting in Sokoto on Tuesday ordered the 2nd and 3rd Respondents, Governor Aminu Waziiri Tambuwal and the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP), respectively to bring all their witnesses to the Court on Wednesday.
This was sequel to application for an adjournment to July 31, 2019, by the Lead Counsel of Governor Aminu Waziiri Tambuwal, Barrister Emmanuel Ukala, SAN, to contiue with the presentation of his witnesses , just after presenting three witnesses on subpoena .
Similarly, the Lead Counsel for the 3rd Respondent, Aare Akinmuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, could not present any witness as ordered by the Tribunal .
He said,” we were just waiting to see where the 2nd Respondent would stop, then we take from there .”
The Tribunal Chairman, Justice Abdullahi Bawale , had vehemently objected to Ukala’s application for adjournment , insisting that, the 2nd Respondent must present all his witnesses to the Court today (Tuesday).
Following failure to continue with the presentation of his witnesses , after bringing only three of them, citing undisclosed ” logistics reasons, ” Tribunal Chairman later ordered the 2nd and 3rd Respondents to bring all their witnesses tomorrow despite the objection raised by the Lead Counsel for the petitioners, Dr Alex Izinyon , SAN,
It would be recalled that the 2nd and 3rd Respondents had during the pre-hearing proceedings of the Tribunal told the Court they have 42 and 33 witnesses to present , respectively.
Penultimate week, the 1st Respondent, the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC), had failed to present the 12 witnesses it had earlier claimed to have .
Tambuwal’s lawyer, Ukala had earlier tendered some documents to the Tribunal , from the Bar and they were admitted as ” Identifications -IDs,” by the Court .
They include the results for Labe-Labe Primary School Polling Unit, Bashire / Maikada ward , in Tambuwal Local Governemnt, Randa-Randa Polling Unit, Fura Girke ward , Tureta Local Governemnt and Shiyyar Noma polling unit, Shinaka ward of Goronyo Local Government.
The Court however ordered that, photocopies of the documents should be made in the Court , while the originals should be returned to INEC, for the safety of the documents , as prayed by Alhassan Umar, Counsel to the 1st Respondent, INEC.
Meanwhile, The Resident Electoral Commissioner ( REC), Alhaji Abubakar Sadeeq Musa, represented by an Administrative Officer , Bashir Ahmed Tahir, had earlier been subpoenaed by the Tribunal, where he tendered some documents before the Tribunal.
The documents include Forms EC8 A and Forms EC8 B from some polling units in Tambuwal , Goronyo, Tureta and Wurno Local Governments .
They were the original results sheets and the summary of the same polling units.
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