The Imo state governorship election petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja has adjourned to March 21 for parties in the petition challenging the victory of Governor Hope Uzodimma of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the election of November 11, 2023, to close their case.
At the last proceedings on Monday the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and its governorship candidate in Imo State, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of denying it access to material that was used to conduct the governorship election in Imo on November 11, 2023.
The PDP and its candidate told the election tribunal sitting in Abuja that they needed the material to prove that Uzodimma of the All Progressive Congress (APC) did not secure the majority of the votes in the election.
However, responding to the allegation, INEC told the tribunal that the petitioners failed to meet the condition precedent stipulated in section 253(2) of the Evidence Act and Order 20 rule 10 of the Federal High Court rules.
Lead counsel to the petitioners Johnson Usman (SAN), had accused the electoral body of flouting the order of the court by its failure to make available to his clients some electoral materials used for the November 11, 2023 governorship election including the voters register.
He told the three-member tribunal led by Justice O. Akintan-Osadebay that the commission has refused to produce the election materials after collecting the sum of N5 million from the petitioners as processing fee, since January 26, 2024.
Usman further told the commission that outside the N5 million paid as processing fee, the petitioners equally pay the sum of N4 million to a business centre for the photocopying of the voters register.
“On February 7, 2024, INEC said we should pay N50, 000 for the CTC which we did and it issued us a receipt,“ Usman added.
He lamented that out of the 27 local government areas of the state, INEC only provided the Certified True Copies (CTC) of the voters register from seven LGAs.
Meanwhile, the tribunal on its sitting, admitted in evidence documents representing the entire polling units in the 27 local government areas of the state.
The polling units were tendered by counsel to the petitioners, Johnson Usman (SAN).
Responding to the alleged withholding of electoral materials, lead counsel to INEC, A.M. Aliyu (SAN), informed the tribunal that the Commission had certified the voters register in seven out of the 27 LGAs but the petitioners have refused to come and pick them at its Owerri office.
In addition, a principal legal officer of the Commission, Nwankwo Onyenyechi, who appeared in honour of the subpoena issued on INEC, told the tribunal that it was the petitioners who instructed the business centre to stop the photocopying of the voters register for onward certification by the commission.
But in all of these, counsel to the petitioners disagreed with the position of INEC, insisting that the commission flagrantly disobeyed the order of court by refusing to make available to them the voters register, after paying the necessary fee.
Consequently, the tribunal adjourned to Thursday, March 21 for the petitioners to close their case.
The Commission said none of the other 15 candidates had up to 10,000 votes.
However, the PDP and its candidate, Samuel Anyanwu who are challenging Uzodimma‘s victory at the tribunal had applied that a subpoena be issued to the electoral body to produce and tender some of the materials used for the election.
