Posted by In the state governorship election petition tribunal, former governor Bello Mohammed Matawalle has brought the 19th witness to support his complaint against governor Dauda Lawal-Dare.
However, the case has been postponed until July 19, 2023.
Dare of the Peoples Democratic Party was declared the election’s victor by the tribunal after Matawalle, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, filed a complaint.
The previous governor requested that the tribunal declare him the winner, asserting that he received the majority of the valid votes cast, and claimed that the March 18, 2023 election was marred by irregularities.
Additionally, he requested that the tribunal direct the Independent National Electoral Commission to provide him a fresh certificate of return.
The petitioner’s main attorney, Mr. Usman Sule SAN, led Dr. Ahmad Kainuwa, the Maradun Local Government Area’s returning officer during the governorship election, as the 19th witness at the case’s resumed hearing on Friday.
The Returning Officer stated that the result sheet he compiled from the ward collation officers under his supervision was one of the exhibits in evidence and informed the tribunal that INEC had asked him not to present it but rather to announce the result obtained from the INEC server because the result sheet he had submitted to INEC was different from the one on the server.
He added that INEC officials had told him to deliver the document from the INEC server, which they claimed to be valid.
According to him, there was anxiety during the Maradun collation exercise, and the Divisional Police Officer gave him instructions to ensure that the poll was conducted quickly since bandits were on their way to the region.
The witness said that various statistics were generated and identified the ones he produced while being cross-examined by Chief Solomon Akuma SAN, O.M. Atoyemi SAN, and Wilson Tinger, the respondent’s legal representatives.
Justice Cordelia Ogadi, the tribunal’s chairperson, called an adjournment until July 19 so that Lawal and PDP may present their case.