Election Petition: Abiodun’s Defence Collapses After Sighting Adebutu’s 6,375 Documents
Lawyers representing Governor Dapo Abiodun at the Ogun State Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abeokuta were overwhelmed on Tuesday after sighting 6,375 documents presented by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Oladipupo Adebutu.
Adebutu, who rejected the declaration of Abiodun as winner of the March 18 governorship election held in the state, had filed a petition before the tribunal, alleging massive electoral irregularities and seeking the invalidation of the poll results.
At the resumed sitting on Tuesday, the petitioner’s counsel, Chief Goody Uche (SAN), presented schedules of documents filed on behalf of his client on June 3 but the defence counsel struggled to force adjournment after sighting the deluge of documents.
The schedule was said to contain 98 pages with over 6,375 documents.
In an apparent bid to stall Adebutu’s documents and tactically cause some delay, Abiodun’s lawyers led by Kehinde Ogunwunmiju Esq, claimed the numbers of document pages were too enormous for them to be check page by page.
However, the petitioner’s counsel insisted that the senior members of the defence team should leave their junior counterparts in court to do the needful while they return to court tomorrow (Wednesday) to continue the normal hearing.
According to Uche, there was nothing to scrutinize in the documents by the respondents as they were only plotting some gimmick.
He further expressed readiness to start bringing witnesses from Wednesday if the documents tendering was delayed but the respondents again indicated lack of preparedness.
At this point, the courtroom experienced some silence and, subsequently, consultations among the various counsel.
The panel asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other respondents in the matter if they were tendering any documents from the bar but INEC claimed its documents were limited.
The court, therefore, insisted the commission should tender the few documents it intends to tender.
On their part, Abiodun’s counsel said they can only tender theirs until when the petitioner documents were seen.
The court eventually ruled and gave 48 hours for harmonization and reconciliation on the delaying matters till Thursday.
… More details to follow
Election petition: Abiodun’s defence collapses after sighting Adebutu’s 6,375 documents
Lawyers representing Governor Dapo Abiodun at the Ogun State Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abeokuta were overwhelmed on Tuesday after sighting 6,375 documents presented by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Oladipupo Adebutu.
Adebutu, who rejected the declaration of Abiodun as winner of the March 18 governorship election held in the state, had filed a petition before the tribunal, alleging massive electoral irregularities and seeking the invalidation of the poll results.
At the resumed sitting on Tuesday, the petitioner’s counsel, Chief Goody Uche (SAN), presented schedules of documents filed on behalf of his client on June 3 but the defence counsel struggled to force adjournment after sighting the deluge of documents.
The schedule was said to contain 98 pages with over 6,375 documents.
In an apparent bid to stall Adebutu’s documents and tactically cause some delay, Abiodun’s lawyers led by Kehinde Ogunwunmiju Esq, claimed the numbers of document pages were too enormous for them to be check page by page.
However, the petitioner’s counsel insisted that the senior members of the defence team should leave their junior counterparts in court to do the needful while they return to court tomorrow (Wednesday) to continue the normal hearing.
According to Uche, there was nothing to scrutinize in the documents by the respondents as they were only plotting some gimmick.
He further expressed readiness to start bringing witnesses from Wednesday if the documents tendering was delayed but the respondents again indicated lack of preparedness.
At this point, the courtroom experienced some silence and, subsequently, consultations among the various counsel.
The panel asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other respondents in the matter if they were tendering any documents from the bar but INEC claimed its documents were limited.
The court, therefore, insisted the commission should tender the few documents it intends to tender.
On their part, Abiodun’s counsel said they can only tender theirs until when the petitioner documents were seen.
The court eventually ruled and gave 48 hours for harmonization and reconciliation on the delaying matters till Thursday.
… More details to follow
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