Ogun Tribunal: I Did Not Know INEC Has Lawyer, Says PDP Witness

News Investigators/ Eze Desmond, a subpoenaed witness called by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the Governorship Tribunal holding in Abeokuta, Ogun State has said that he never knew the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had a legal representation at the Tribunal.

Mr. Desmond who claimed to be an ad-hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) told the panel that he was not aware that the commission has a lawyer.

Desmond who was invited from GRA Road, Sagamu, made this declaration when being cross-examined by the counsel of Governor Dapo Abiodun, Taiwo Osipitan, SAN, who objected to the documents tendered by the witness but reserved his objection to his final address.

The witness was responding to a question put to him by Osipitan, who queried how he got the contact address of PDP’s lawyer who he claimed he approached upon receiving a subpoena to appear before the tribunal.

Mr. Osipitan, a law professor while cross-examining the witness also asked about how he got the subpoena and the address he used, to which he responded that it was addressed to him personally and not through INEC.

The witness, who was a corps member said he completed his mandatory service year on May 18th and that he didn’t inform INEC about the subpoena and his intention to appear before the panel as an ad-hoc staff of the electoral umpire.

When asked about his experience on the issue of alleged violence where he worked, he said he did not witness any, contrary to what the document he tendered indicates.

Also, a witness of the PDP, Bamidele Aiyedun, from Ikenne, to the dismay of many admitted that there is something wrong in his statement of oath.

Another subpoenaed witness for PDP, Oristhefe Okotipi, who claimed to have worked for INEC as an ad-hoc staff during the gubernatorial poll could not mention the serial numbers of the booklet used for the governorship and House of Assembly elections.

He couldn’t also provide any evidence that confirm that he truly worked for INEC, as he admitted that the commission was not in the know of his appearance before the tribunal.

Meanwhile, all the counsels to the respondents expressly objected to those documents tendered before the tribunal by the PDP’s subpoenaed witnesses. They however, reserved their objections to their final addresses.