Tribunal admits 62 exhibits against Ajimobi

OYO State Governorship Election Tribunal has admitted 62 exhibits tendered before it by Bimbo Adepoju, the first witness of Senator Rashidi Ladoja and Accord Party during the commencement of full hearing. Ladoja, the governorship candidate of the Accord Party (AP) in the April election, is currently challenging the victory of Senator Abiola Ajimobi, before a three-man panel.

The 62 exhibits were made from four different documents and analysis of inspected election materials from wards and units from six local governments, namely-Atiba, Atisbo, Iseyin, Iwajowa, Kajola and Isiwaju.

The first was a copy of a document referred to as INEC guidelines and dated April 2, 2015 while the second was INEC approved guidelines and regulations in connection with the conduct of 2015 elections.

Counsel to the respondents, Olumuyiwa Aduroja (SAN) and Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN) objected to the admittance of the two materials while counsel to the Resident Electoral Commissioner and INEC who are third and fourth respondents in the matter, Yusuf Ali (SAN) objected to the admittance of first document but admitted that the second material -INEC approved guidelines and regulations in connection with the conduct of 2015 elections is “our document.”

The two materials were admitted and marked as exhibit one and two by the tribunal. The third document tendered by Adepoju was a manual for election officials 2015, it was also admitted. In addition, certified true copies of data and readings from the card readers, which was tendered as fourth document by the witness was also objected to by all the respondents counsel before it was admitted.

The petitioners in the case are Senator Ladoja and Accord, while Senator Ajimobi, the All Progressives Congress (APC), INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Oyo State, Ambassador Rufus Akeju and the commission, are all respondents in the case. After the conclusion of pre-hearing on Monday, the tribunal opened the full hearing session with the petitioners’ first witness, Bimbo Adepoju, who led a team to inspect INEC materials used for the election.