Senator Dino Melaye, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP, in the November 16, 2019, Kogi-West senatorial election, has told
the Kogi State National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal that he made
himself available at all the 564 polling units on the election day.
The former lawmaker said this before the Election Tribunal
led by Justice Isa Sambo on Monday.
Malaye is challenging the result of the election that was
won by the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate, Smart Adeyemi.
Some of Melaye’s polling agents who were also witnesses at
the tribunal had earlier testified against him before the tribunal saying the
election was free, fair and violent-free.
When Adeyemi’s lawyer, Dr. Oladapo Otitoju, asked Melaye if
he was aware of the testimonies his agents had given before the tribunal, the
ex-lawmaker said his agents cannot speak for him just as he cannot also speak
for them.
Further asked where he got the information about
irregularities in the election, he said: ”I was everywhere on the election day
in the 564 units.”
When the lawyer demanded to know which polling unit Melaye
voted and what was the result of the election, he told the tribunal that he
could no longer remember, adding that he was not aware that the result was recorded
in his polling unit.
He was later provided with the form EC8-D1 containing the
result of the polling unit and was asked to read it but he claimed he could not
see it clearly because his glasses got broken when the tribunal went on a short
break.
After other arguments the tribunal adjourned further sitting
in the petition to April 21, 2019.
At the last adjourned date, a witness, Ibrahim Jimoh, Ijumu
Ward Collation agent, said he was not at the venue of the declaration of result
after votes were counted.
He said he relied on the report of the Independent National
Electoral Commission, INEC, after the election.
But according to electoral laws, party agents must be
available when results are counted before it is declared.
Jimoh told the tribunal sitting at the Federal High Court in
Abuja that he was not available when results were counted but relied on an INEC
report.
When asked by Adeyemi’s lawyer, Otitoju, if the ballot
papers were counted in his presence, he said no, adding that he relied on INEC report
and what other agents told him.
According to him, the election went on peacefully without
violence.
When asked how he got the result, he said: ”I was not there.
I was not on ground. Yes, It was the second agent that came to tell me the
figure”.
Another witness, Ademola Samuel, a farmer, after adopting
his statement on oath as evidence before the tribunal also said the election
was without violence.
According to him, he examined the results after the
election, but when asked to shed more light on his analysis of the examination
of the results, he said he acted on what he was told.
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