Tribunal never asked us to produce Kwara Gov-elect certificate – INEC

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday dismissed reports that it has been asked to produce the WAEC certificate of the Kwara State Governor-elect AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.

Counsel to INEC Rowland Otaru (SAN) told reporters in Ilorin, the state capital, that at no time did the state governorship tribunal order the body to produce a document that is clearly a public record.

“The tribunal did not at anytime order INEC to produce the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) certificate of AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq,” Otaru said.

“The governor-elect has pleaded his certificate, which is very genuine. There is nothing like falsification of result or whatever. They are there. They are public records. It is not something to be hidden. The documents the governor-elect tendered met the requirements of the law.”

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Earlier at the tribunal’s pre-hearing session, the commission tendered two documents (Forms ECAD and ECAE) which contained the results of the elections across the 16 local government areas and declaration of results for the office of the governor of the state.

INEC added that the documents affirmed that AbdulRazaq was the winner of the election.

Otaru told the tribunal that “those are the documents we have now at this pre-hearing session. Every other document will come in during the real trial.”

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate Abdulrazak Atunwa are
challenging the genuineness or otherwise of the WAEC certificate of AbdulRazaq at the tribunal.

Counsel to PDP and its governorship candidate, Kingsley Odey, did not object to the tendering of the document.

Odey told the court that he intends to call up maximum of five witnesses, adding that one will be a document expert while the other will be subpoenaed from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC)
office.

Counsel to AbdulRazaq, H.O Afolabi, promised to call seven witnesses, adding that the tribunal has the powers to streamline and limit the number of witnesses to call.

He urged the tribunal “to be kind enough to let us work within the timeframe allocated. That is my supplication. This is the best
approach through which I can ventilate the defence of my clients.”

The INEC counsel agreed with him, saying: “This is the best way to manage and save time. I promise to cross-examine all the PDP witnesses in one day.”

Counsel to APC Chief Yomi Aliyu said he intends to call two witnesses during real trial.

Pre-hearing conference continues on Thursday for the streamlining of trial timetable.

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