 agents during 2023 governorship election in Nasarawa state have told the state election petition tribunal that they signed the result sheets of the election under duress.){kind=link}
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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) agents during 2023 governorship election in Nasarawa state have told the state election petition tribunal that they signed the result sheets of the election under duress.
The governorship election petition tribunal sitting in Lafia, the Nasarawa state capital has admitted evidence from four witnesses, who testified before it on Monday.
Witnesses to the PDP and it’s candidate, David Emmanuel Ombugadu, who were PDP agents during the election identified their deposition and told the court that they signed the documents under duress.
“We were made to sign the documents under duress”, the PDP agents alleges.
The legal battle is intensifying as the tribunal resumes hearing of the petition filed by the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), David Emmanuel Ombugadu, challenging the declaration of Abdullahi Sule as the winner of the March 18th governorship election in Nasarawa State.
Recall that David Emmanuel Ombugadu, who was also a governorship candidate in the 2019 election, approached the tribunal to challenge the declaration of Sule as the elected governor of Nasarawa State, citing irregularities in the conduct of the polls.
Ombugadu also prayed for the tribunal to declare him the winner of the March 18th election based on the evidence presented before the court in accordance with the 1999 constitution as amended and the Electoral Act 2022.
The three-man panel of justices, led by Justice Ezekiel Ajayi, listened to arguments and counter-arguments presented by counsels to Governor Sule, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The arguments focused on the admissibility of documents and witnesses tendered by the complainants.
During the sitting, the petitioner’s counsels led by M.J Numa presented documents including voter registers, lists of adhoc staff, and result sheets from several Local Government Areas to substantiate their claims. The respondents’ counsels objected to the admissibility of the documents but reserved their arguments for the final addresses.
Justice Ajayi reserved ruling on the admissibility of the documents but allowed the petitioner to tender the evidence before the tribunal. Witnesses from Lafia and Toto local government councils were called by the petitioners to substantiate the allegation of rigging.
The defendants’ counsels objected to the witnesses’ testimonies and reserved their arguments for a later date.
The three-man panel of justices adjourned the sitting to July 13, 2023, for the continuation of the hearing.
Nigerian Tribune gathered that in solidarity with their respective camps, protesters from both the APC and PDP took prominent positions along Shendam road, where major government establishments, including the Government House, House of Assembly, and Judiciary Headquarters, are located.
Anti-riot policemen partially cordoned the busy road to prevent any potential breakdown of law and order.