The absence of Anayo Nwakodo, one of the lawyers of the Labour Party (LP) and Alex Otti, Governor of Abia State, over claims of ill-health stalled proceedings at the Abia State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal on Saturday, as the panel was forced to adjourn to Thursday, next week, even with eyebrows being raised over the claim.
The camp of Okey Ahiwe, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), maintain that the excuse being adduced by the governor’s lawyer was a gambit to delay proceedings and mislead the tribunal by preventing witnesses called by the party from nailing the governor.
The witnesses from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), who were in the state to testify on issues surrounding the document Otti submitted in lieu of his body’s discharge certificate, could not do so because Nwakodo wrote the panel to claim that he was sick and could therefore not be part of the proceedings.
The witnesses, were called in to validate the official communications of their respective organisations previously tendered and admitted as exhibits in the suit filed by Ahiwe and PDP against the declaration of Otti as winner of the March 18 2023 governorship election.
PDP is contending that INEC through a letter signed by its Secretary, Rose Oriaran-Anthony, had confirmed that LP did not submit its membership register in Abia State as required by law and that the party failed to notify the electoral body of the date fixed for its congress hence the commission did not monitor any congress it purportedly organized.
Besides, the party also claimed that the governor did not submit his NYSC discharge certificate or exemption certificate but rather presented a reference letter to INEC while filling his governorship form.
At the sitting on Saturday, the two witnesses from INEC and NYSC, said to have arrived the state on Thursday, and were asked to return for proceedings on Saturday, 5th August 2023, could not proceed with their testimonies at the Abia State High Court, Umuahia, the venue of the sitting, as a result of the new development.
Before the postponement last Thursday, a drama had ensued, when the LP lawyers made frantic efforts to delay their testimonies, after those of the PDP, told the judges that they had duly served them with a motion to present the official witnesses of fact for their oral evidence.
The Otti camp, had claimed that they could not move on the same day that they were served as they needed time to study the motion, thus pleading with the panel to grant an adjournment to enable them do so in the interest of justice.
Though the panel acceding to their request for a postponement, shifted the matter to Saturday, specifically for the motion seeking leave of court to allow the official witnesses adopt the documents they brought through their written depositions, they sprang a fresh prayer on Saturday, for the proceedings to again be shifted because Nwakodo, who is one of the lawyers representing them wrote that he suddenly took ill and that none of the other lawyers in their team, including four Senior Advocates of Nigeria, (SANs,) could cross examine the witnesses in his absence.
This new twist saw the PDP and Ahiwe’s lawyers vehemently opposing the motion, on the grounds that the witnesses came from outside the state and that the respondents were merely playing to the gallery in their bid to frustrate the case and delay the wheel of justice.
Adding that the Otti and LP, were petrified by the weight of the evidence of the official witnesses, hence the ploy to use technicalities to delay the inevitable, they prayed for the hearing to continue, adding that time was of the essence and justice must be discharged quickly.
But, the panel after listening to both parties, again adjourned the matter to Thursday, 10th August 2023 for the witnesses to be led in evidence and warned against further use of any form of delay tactics to stall proceedings, as it was working to conclude the case within the period stipulated by the Electoral Act.
Incidentally, the PDP team, alleged that shortly after the adjournment, the lawyer, who reportedly claimed to be ill and hospitalised, was spotted around the high court premises discussing with some LP members who were at the tribunal, sparking off outrage from supporters of the opposition party, which lost power in the state, in the 2023 polls, the first time since 1999.
A PDP Chieftain who spoke on the matter, while describing the attitude of the Otti camp as “aimed at delaying the inevitable sacking of the interim government in the state, by stopping the key witnesses from testifying, added: “With defeat staring them in the face, LP and her interim Governor are doing everything to compromise tribunal members and witnesses sent to validate official documents issued by INEC and NYSC. But we will make sure that justice prevails even if it means remaining perpetually vigilant.”