Edo Election Tribunal Update: Witnesses Disgrace Mr. Obaseki In Court, Counsel Plea For Adjournment, Forgo Two Days

Edo Election Tribunal Update: Witnesses Disgrace Mr. Obaseki In Court, Counsel Plea For Adjournment, Forgo Two Days

Following events at the ongoing Edo state tribunal, Benin city, it would not be out of place to say, Mr Godwin Obaseki who is the second respondent in the petition filed by the PDP and its candidate in the 2016 Edo governorship elections, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu has admitted that the few witnesses he has called so far to testify in his defense before the tribunal have delivered below expectation and prediction.

This became evident at Thursday’s sitting when his counsel, Oyetunji Oyeyipo, SAN , asked for adjournment despite having two more days to continue his defense by calling more witnesses at the election tribunal.

Obaseki apparently is dissatisfied after days of calling witnesses whose oral testimonies contradicted their written depositions.

During Today’s sitting, after presenting three witnesses, his counsel said; “We don’t want to be working and calling witnesses without focus. We need to put our house in order.”

“My lord it’s important for us to appraise ourselves and in order to know where we are going.

“In the light of the above, we want to move for an adjournment to Monday, the 6th of March, 2017. We are willing to forfeit two and half days of the 10 days given to us by the Tribunal.”

The counsels to the petitioners, INEC and the APC who are the first and third respondents not objecting, gave room for the tribunal chairman, Justice Ahmad Badamasi to adjourn further sitting till Monday, 6th of March, even as he admonished the APC, to endeavour to open its defense next day, Tuesday 7.

However, most of the witnesses called by Obaseki in his defense at the tribunal have in the last eight days testified that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC failed to train them with either its elections manual or the voters’ register prior the 2016 Edo governorship elections, while INEC on the other hand has admitted that there were irregularities in the election, but transferred the blame to NYSC adhoc staffs.