Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, on Saturday tasked the new President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to bring back the old days of agenda-setting labour unionism in the country.

Aregbesola regretted that critical institutions of democracy are being demolished by the sheer desperation of those who fail to understand the meaning of power adding that a truly unfettered labour union with positive dispositions towards economic growth and not in unholy alliance for the perpetuation of misrule is what is required.

The governor in a congratulatory message through the Director, Bureau of Communications and Strategy, Office of the Governor, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, Aregbesola said the new NLC boss, Dr. Ayuba Wabba, must seek to attain such goals under his tenure.

The Governor described the emergence of a new executive of the NLC as timely and a good omen for the nation’s democracy.

He advised the union to be objective, focused and non-partisan in carrying on its labour activities.

He enjoined the NLC to infuse the union with fresh blood and fresh ideas so as to return it to its old vibrant, informed and policy-setting organisation.

“The emergence of Dr. Ayuba Wabba as new NLC President is coming at a time the country is facing a critical elections.

“While I congratulate the new President of NLC, Labour union is one of the critical sectors in a nation’s body polity. I therefore enjoin the new workers’ executive to work with all tiers of government so as to return the nation’s economy back to the right track.

“With two weeks to the general elections, NLC should work assiduously to ensure that the nation transits peacefully and successfully, and decline to allow itself to be used against the wishes and aspirations of Nigerians.

“In the past, NLC has put government on its toes and set agenda for government on programmes and policies best suited for the generality of the people.

“I therefore call on the new NLC President to bring back this old days of vibrancy of workers’ union for the development, growth and progress of Nigeria. It is disheartening that today, institutions of state are being demolished for private political agenda of individuals,” Aregbesola said.

He added that, his government is one of the best in terms of government-labour relation, urging the NLC to adopt dialogue as the best method of resolving any  government and labour disagreement.

Pictures of the South West Coordinator, Buhari/Osibajo Presidential Campaign, Governor Rauf Aregbesola addressing the ecstatic supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the a Door to Door/Grassroot campaign Rally for Presidential/National and State House of Assemblies, at Ilase-Ijesa, Obokun Local Government Area.

South West Coordinator, Buhari/Osibajo Presidential Campaign, Governor
Rauf Aregbesola addressing the ecstatic supporters of the All
Progressives Congress (APC) during the a Door to Door/Grassroot
campaign Rally for Presidential/National and State House of
Assemblies, at Ilase-Ijesa, Obokun Local Government Area

From right- All Progressives Congress APC Candidate for Oriade/Obokun
Federal Constituency in the Federal House of Representatives, Hon.
Nathaniel Agunbiade; South west Coordinator,
Buhari/OsibajoPresidential.Campaign, Governor Rauf Aregbesola; his
deputy, Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori, APC State Chairman, Prince Gboyega
Famodun and Candidate for Obokun State Constituency in the State House
of Assembly, Mrs. Olatunbosun Oyintiloye addressing the ecstatic
supporters, during a Door to Door/Grassroot campaign Rally for
Presidential/National and State House of Assemblies, at Ilase-Ijesa,
Obokun Local Government Area

South west Coordinator, Buhari/Osibajo Campaign, Governor Rauf
Aregbesola (3rd right); his deputy, Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori (middle);
Chairman Osun APC, Prince Gboyega Famodun (3rd left)and others
addressing supporters, during a Door to Door/Grassroot campaign Rally
for Presidential/National and State House of Assemblies, at
Ilase-Ijesa, Obokun Local Government Area

The Elders’ Council (Igbimo Agba) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State of Osun has described last minute efforts by President Goodluck Jonathan to influence Yoruba people’s support for his re-election efforts through monetary inducement as too little to late.

In a statement signed by Chairman of the Council, Engineer Sola Akinwumi and made available to newsmen in Osogbo on Monday, the Elders’ Council maintained that Yoruba people are not articles that could be purchased by the highest bidder.

Decrying the last minute visit to palaces of traditional rulers where heaps of United States Dollars allegedly changed hands, the party leaders drawn across the 30 Local Governments opined that “the Dollar Rain, if it is true, is a gratuitous insult to the dignity and integrity of Yoruba culture and tradition as it presents our people as purchasable items for any moneybag with deep purse”.

According to them, the eleventh hour visitation embarked upon by the president in the past weeks was not surprising as it reflected the antics of an unprepared student that usually adopts panicky measures when a promotion examination is approaching.

“The Eleventh Hour visitation by President Jonathan did not come to us as a surprise because he, like a poor student of history, realised too late that Yoruba people are worth more than passing attention in the past six years of his presidency”, the Council observed.

A careful look at Yoruba States, according to the party elders showed evidence of neglect by the Federal Government typical of the years when President Jonathan occupied Aso Rock as Nigerian leader.

The council noted further that what is visible to all observers are “apparent and deliberate economic strangulation, vast graduate unemployment, distressed industries, neglected productive sectors, and discouraging agricultural policies that have bedevilled the daily economic activities of our people in the Jonathan years”.

The Jonathan administration, according to the Elders’ Council, has nothing to show for the massive votes given by Yoruba people in 2011 stressing that this apparent failure forced the president resort to underhand dealings to win a second term.

The council stated further that “President Jonathan must know that Yoruba Obas, as custodian of our culture of hospitality, good neighbourliness, diplomatic finesse, and virtuous living in the Omoluabi ethos would not have turned down his request to visit their palaces”.

The politicians warned President Jonathan to note that “no Yoruba traditional ruler worth his crown will allow an armada of dollars to drag his royal regalia in political mud as the proponents of Dollar Rains planned through their recent actions”.

They supported their position with a Yoruba adage says “Enikan kii bo gende lojo kan, ko so pe o ri fakia-fakia” (no one gives food to an adult in one day and claims that he was responsible for his hefty size).

The Igbimo Agba added that “those who invaded Yoruba land with dollars as if the people were damned with poverty would soon find out that we have our eyes on our proud heritage that money cannot subvert”.

The Council also noted an alleged plan by those they described as “unpatriotic elements to instigate our Armed Forces to rig the coming General Elections by harassing the electorate before and during the polls. This is, to say the least, an unpatriotic step at undermining the nation’s democratic process”.

The party elders then declared that Yoruba people have decided to vote out President Goodluck Jonathan and his party insisting that “no amount of Dollar Rain that can stop Yoruba people from proving their worth one more time as they have done in the past even under the most unpleasant clampdown”.

Pictures of the crowd of All Peoples Congress,(APC), during the Grassroot Campaign Rally for Presidential, National/State House of Assemblies,at Idominasi, Obokun Local Government Area. Also is the Governor Rauf Aregbesola; the Oludo of Idominasi, Oba Folorunso Ademiju Obasanya and Deputy Governor, Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori.

From left – South West Coordinator,Buhari/Osibajo Presidential
Campaign, Governor Rauf Aregbesola addressing the Oludo of Idominasi,
Oba Folorunso Ademiju Obasanya and the Osun Deputy Governor, Mrs. Titi
Laoye-Tomori, during the Grassroot Campaign Rally for Presidential,
National/State House of Assemblies, at Idominasi, Obokun Local
Government Area.

Crowd of All Peoples Congress,(APC), during the Grassroot Campaign
Rally for Presidential, National/State House of Assemblies,at
Idominasi, Obokun Local Government Area.Insert:Governor Rauf
Aregbesola; the Oludo of Idominasi, Oba Folorunso Ademiju Obasanya and
Deputy Governor, Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori.

The governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has condemned what he described as dastardly and barbaric attacks on members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ilase and Ibokun in Obokun Local Government of the state on Friday by the Peoples Democratic Party members.

Several APC members were injured, posters of contestants, APC flags and the podium on which the governor was to address the gathering were seriously damaged.

In a statement issued on behalf of the Governor by his Director Bureau of Communications and Strategy, Semiu Okanlawon, also alleged that an APC woman member’s ear was slashed with matchet and was quickly rushed to an undisclosed hospital.

It was gathered that the governor had gone to Obokun Local Government to campaign for his party and its contestants for various positions when the PDP members attacked the APC members.

An eye witness account revealed that Aregbesola and his entourage had gone to pay homage to the Ilase monarch when the crisis started.

PDP members suspected to have been sponsored by Ade Fadahunsi, the senatorial candidate of the PDP in Osun East senatorial district.

The hoodlums were said to have shot into the air sporadically to scare the waiting APC crowd before freely destroying the flags, posters and the campaign podium.

People had to scamper for safety as the PDP thugs had a field day unleashing mayhem on innocent people.

The governor on his return to the campaign ground, said he was shocked with what he saw, describing it “callous and condemnable.”

Aregbesola therefore called on security agencies to investigate the unprovoked attack against APC in the area and call on PDP to desist from this ignoble act.

Aregbesola was quoted as saying, “We, as a party, are responsible and peace-loving. We are loved by the people.

“It is those who do not have electoral value that will attack the same people they ought to patronise for votes.

“We are popular and we are on ground. This people resort to violence because they know that they don’t have the support of the people.

“We however remain undaunted. We will not the cowed by anybody in the state. In the last four years, my government has restored peace to the state. We call on security agencies to be proactive and deal with anyone, whose sole agenda is to cause violence in the state,” Aregbesola said.

He however called on APC members to remain calm and law abiding, saying they should refrain from returning violence for violence.

‎The Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has charged President Goodluck Jonathan not to play politics with the ailing state of the country’s economy.

The governor urged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led government to as a matter of urgency nip in the bud the issue of oil theft that has robbed the country of trillions of Naira.

Aregbesola gave this charge in Atakumosa West Local government in continuation of All Progressives Congress campaign to drum up support for all the candidates of the party in the forth-coming general elections.

Aregbesola had earlier taken his campaigns to Orolu and Atakumosa East council areas of.the state telling residents that the only hope left for the masses is to see to the end of the Peoples Democratic Party rule at the Federal government level.

He held that if the said stolen crude oil is being prevented and blocked by the PDP and the federal government, such proceeds amounting to Trillions of Naira can be put to use in the development of rural roads all over Nigeria.

The governor while addressing the people of Ilaa-jesa,  Isaobi, Isotun Osu and Ifewara among other rural settlements in the Local government said the Yoruba havr never benefited anything good under the administration of the conservative party.

According to the governor, “if the barrels of crude oil being alleged to have been   stolen daily are blocked and prevented by the PDP controlled Federal government which amount to 1.7 trillion Naira, proceeds from such act could have provided about 2000 kilometers of rural roads across the country”.

He admonished the people of the area to query the Federal government on why the Osogbo-Ilesa and Osu-Ife roads which began seven years ago were abandoned.

He said, “Nigerians have never had it this bad in terms of hunger,  insecurity,  corruption,  unemployment among others,  the worst of it being the economic recession which made a dollar to exchange for 230 naira from 120 inherited by the Jonathan led administration.”

The governor also appealed to Christians to use the lenten period to pray for the desired change the country truly deserves by voting for all the candidates of the APC in the National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections.

Aregbesola at the palace of the Asotun of Isotun Oba Prof.  Akinola Adeniyi Owosekun 11, alleged that, “if the wastages the Federal government is noted for are curtailed, no rural community will not  benefit from the proceed from crude oil being stolen daily.

“God in  his mercy granted president Goodluck Jonathan the last four years as an economic independence period when crude oil was sold at 100 dollars per barrel,  but what did the country witness,  abandoned projects including the Alagbado-ota bridge started by Chief Ernest Sonekan ‘s government.”  the governor  said.

On the comments of the president during his visit to the state that the country is buoyant and that his government is fulfilling it’s financial obligations to the state, the governor questioned why federal government workers are being owed salaries and allowances.

Aregbesola however noted that his visit to the interland and villages is to enable him assess and have first hand information about the condition of the people. ‎

Aregbesola told the people that one of the things the PDP wanted to ensure by forcing a postponement of the election was to drain the people out and use the period to empower their weak candidates.

“We only need our people to persevere. Our people are Omoluabi who cannot be bought with ill gotten wealth. We have remained with the people and that is our commitment.” He concluded.

Pictures of the South-west Coordinator, Buhari/Osibajo Presidential Campaign, Governor Rauf Aregbesola addressing party loyalists,during the Presidential/National and State House of Assemblies Campaigns Rally at Owena-Ijesa, Oriade Local Government Area, on Thursday 12/03/2015.

South-west Coordinator, Buhari/Osibajo Presidential Campaign, Governor
Rauf Aregbesola (5th right); his deputy, Mrs. Titi Laoye- Tomori (5th
left); Former Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Wale Bolorunduro (4th
right); Former State APC Chairman, Elder Adelowo Adebiyi (3rd right);
State Secretary, Alhaji Rasak Salinsile (2nd right); Women Leader,
Alhaja Kudirat Fakokunde (right); Candidate for Federal House of
Representatives in Oriade/Obokun Federal Constituency, Hon. Nathaniel
Agunbiade (2nd left); Candidate for Oriade State Constituency in the
State House of Assembly, Hon. Israel Tomi Aloba and others, during the
Presidential/National and State House of Assemblies Campaigns Rally at
Owena-Ijesa, Oriade Local Government Area, on Thursday 12/03/2015.

South-west Coordinator, Buhari/Osibajo Presidential Campaign, Governor
Rauf Aregbesola (middle); his deputy, Mrs. Titi Laoye- Tomori (2nd
left); Former Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Wale Bolorunduro (2nd
right); Former State APC Chairman, Elder Adelowo Adebiyi (right);
Candidate for Oriade State Constituency in the State House of
Assembly, Hon. Israel Tomi Aloba and others, during the
Presidential/National and State House of Assemblies Campaigns Rally at
Owena-Ijesa, Oriade Local Government Area, on Thursday 12/03/2015.

South-west Coordinator, Buhari/Osibajo Presidential Campaign, Governor
Rauf Aregbesola (middle); his deputy, Mrs. Titi Laoye- Tomori (2nd
left); Former Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Wale Bolorunduro (2nd
right); Former State APC Chairman, Elder Adelowo Adebiyi (right);
Candidate for Oriade State Constituency in the State House of
Assembly, Hon. Israel Tomi Aloba and others, during the
Presidential/National and State House of Assemblies Campaigns Rally at
Owena-Ijesa, Oriade Local Government Area, on Thursday 12/03/2015.

South-west Coordinator, Buhari/Osibajo Presidential Campaign, Governor
Rauf Aregbesola addressing party loyalists,during the
Presidential/National and State House of Assemblies Campaigns Rally at
Owena-Ijesa, Oriade Local Government Area, on Thursday 12/03/2015.

South-west Coordinator, Buhari/Osibajo Presidential Campaign, Governor
Rauf Aregbesola addressing party loyalists,during the
Presidential/National and State House of Assemblies Campaigns Rally at
Owena-Ijesa, Oriade Local Government Area, on Thursday 12/03/2015.

Pictures of the South West Coordinator, Buhari/Osibajo Presidential Campaign, Governor Rauf Aregbesola and other All Progressives Congress (APC) Chieftains, addressing the ecstatic supporters at the Presidential/National and State House of Assemblies Electioneering Campaigns at Ifon in Orolu Local Government Area of the State

South West Coordinator, Buhari/Osibajo Presidential Campaign, Governor
Rauf Aregbesola (middle); his Deputy, Mrs. Titi Laoye- Tomori (3rd
left); State Chairman, All Progressives Congress, Prince Gboyega
Famodun (right); State APC Secretary, Alhaji Rasak Salinile (2nd
right); Former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy
Affairs, Barrister Kolapo Alimi (left); APC Chairman, Orolu Local
Government, Alhaji Sakariyahu Adebayo Oyegbemi (2nd left) and others
during Presidential/National and State House of Assemblies
Electioneering Campaigns at Ifon in Orolu Local Government Area of the
State

South West Coordinator, Buhari/Osibajo Presidential Campaign, Governor
Rauf Aregbesola (middle); his Deputy, Mrs. Titi Laoye- Tomori (3rd
left); State Chairman, All Progressives Congress, Prince Gboyega
Famodun (right); State APC Secretary, Alhaji Rasak Salinile (2nd
right); Former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy
Affairs, Barrister Kolapo Alimi (left); APC Chairman, Orolu Local
Government, Alhaji Sakariyahu Adebayo Oyegbemi (2nd left) and others
during Presidential/National and State House of Assemblies
Electioneering Campaigns at Ifon in Orolu Local Government Area of the
State

South West Coordinator, Buhari/Osibajo Presidential Campaign, Governor
Rauf Aregbesola and other All Progressives Congress (APC) Chieftains,
addressing the ecstatic supporters at the Presidential/National and
State House of Assemblies Electioneering Campaigns at Ifon in Orolu
Local Government Area of the State

Nigerian youths have been advised to shun attempt by politicians to use them as weapons of destruction of the current democratic system.
Speakers at a seminar organised by the Osun State chapter of Nigerian Youth Parliament, entitled, ‘Osun Youth Summit For Peaceful Elections’, gave the admonition in Osogbo.
The convener of the summit, Mr. Semiu Adabanija, noted that the youths constitute a larger percentage of Nigerian population, adding that they are always at the receiving end of any outbreak of violence in the society. Adabanija explained that the seminar became necessary to further sensitise youths against being used as miscreants and thugs by politicians during elections.
In their separate addresses, Osun State Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Abubakar Marafa, represented by Adeola Isiaka and the state Commandant of the Nigerian Security Civil Defence Corps, (NSCDC), Mr Tajudeen Balogun, represented by Head of Training (NSCDC), Mr. Adebayo Oyetade, advised the youths to be wary of desperate politicians who may want to use them as political thugs, especially during the coming polls.
The security agents while reassuring that efforts are already in being made to ensure a free, fair and credible poll, also promised to perform their constitutional roles with utmost civility.
They said a violence free and stable environment before, during and after the polls is their ultimate goal. While calling on all stakeholders in the elections to play the game according to its rules, they also tasked parents to caution their wards against any form of violence.
DAILY INDEPENDENT

In the final analysis, our judgment is that, from the totality of the evidence led before us in this petition, and from the findings we have made in the foregoing, the Petitioners have clearly failed to discharge the burden placed on them by law, to establish that the result declared by the 3rd Respondent with respect to the polling units being questioned in all the 17 Local Government Areas of Osun State, with respect to the Governorship election held on August9, 2014, were invalid or void by reason of corrupt practices and or substantial non compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended); or that it was the 1st Petitioner who scored the majority of lawful votes cast at the said elections, to be entitled to be returned as winner thereof.
In other words, the Petitioners have failed to lead relevant, credible and or cogent evidence to sustain all the grounds upon which they questioned the declaration and return of the 1st Respondent as the duly elected Governor of Osun State with respect to the Governorship Election conducted in the State.
Quite clearly, the 1st Respondent won the majority of lawful votes cast in scoring 394,684 votes as against the 1st Petitioner’s 292,747 votes, and having satisfied all Constitutional requirements, we hereby affirm the declaration and return of 1st Respondent by the 3rd Respondent as the duly elected Governor of Osun State. Consequently, we hereby refuse all the reliefs sought in the petition and the petition therefore fails and it will be and is hereby dismissed. In the interest of peaceful co-existence and reconciliation amongst all contending parties, we shall make no order as to costs.
This is our judgment.
HON. JUSTICE ELIZABETH NGUVEREN KPOJIME
(Chairman)
The above was the climax of the long awaited judgment of the Osun State Election Petition Tribunal as delivered by Tribunal Chairman.
Exerpts from the ruling:
It is the assertion of the Petitioners that the 1st and 2nd Respondents did not poll majority of the lawful votes cast at the said election. It is trite law that the burden rests on them to prove their assertion. See sections 32 and 133 of the Evidence Act,2010, and the case of CPC v.INEC (2011) 18 NWLR (Pt.1279) 493 at 544-545 SC. The Petitoners are calling on the Tribunal to cancel all the unlawful votes credited to the 1st and 2nd Respondents by the 3rd Respondent.
PW1 testified in paragraph 39 of his deposition that:
“39- if the results credited to the 1st and 2nd Respondents in polling units of the wards and Local Governments challenged by the Petitioners in this petition are cancelled, the Petitioners will have majority of the lawful votes cast at the election and will also have not less than 25 percent votes in 2/3rd of Osun State.”
Case of the petitioners
Since it is not the case of the Petitioners that the 1st and 2nd Respondents did not score lawful votes in any of the areas being challenged, they have by implication conceded that these Respondents scored some lawful votes in these areas. The burden is therefore on the Petitioners to determine which are unlawful votes amongst the votes credited to the 1st and 2nd Respondents. It is only when they have done this that the tribunal will be in a position to deduct those unlawful votes from the total votes credited to the 1st and 2nd Respondents and determine the winner. This was the decision in the the case of Nadabo v.Dubai (2011) 7NWLR (Pt.1245) 155 at 177, where the court held thus:
“I think when a Petitioner is alleging that the Respondent is not elected by majority of lawful votes, he ought to plead and prove the votes cast at the various polling stations, the votes illegally credited to the winner, the votes which ought to have been credited to him and also the votes which should be deducted from that of the supposed winner in order to see if it will affect the results of the election. When this is not done, it will be difficult for the Court to effectively address the issue.”
Aregbesola and Omisore
Aregbesola and Omisore
At paragraph 5.1 of Exihibit 243, which is the report of the physical inspection and physical analysis of electoral documents used at the election issued by PW 15, there is a table of summary of the alleged irregularities. From this summary, the Petitioners are contending that 265,180 votes out of the 394,684 votes credited to the 1st and 2nd Respondents are unlawful votes.
Interestingly they have also found 147, 072 unlawful votes credited to them. That if these unlawful votes are deducted fom the total votes credited to the 1st and 2nd Respondents, these Respondents will have 129,504 valid votes. If their unlawful votes are deducted from 292,747 as credited to them at the end of the election, they would have 145,675 valid votes, thus putting them in the lead with 16,171 votes.
It however became clear during the cross- examination of PW15 by the Respondents that he in his report dealt with areas where there were no complaints from the Petitioners. In other words, Exhibit 243 covers a wider scope than that envisaged by the petition. On pages 2-4 of Table 1 is the list of all the polling units in Ayedaade Local Government. Under cross-examination by counsel to the 1st Respondent, his attention was drawn to pages 20-26 of the petition as regards Ayedaade Local Government. Only 3 wards namely Otun Balogun ward 02, Olufi ward 03 and Otun Olufi ward 04 are covered by the petition. Meanwhile table 1 pages 2-4 relates to all the wards within the Local Government. Similarly, his attention was drawn to pages 26-29 of the petition regarding Atakunmosa East Local Government Area. He concedes that:-
“On pages 26-29 of the petition, only 6 wards are being challenged while table 1 lists all the wards. Pages 29-34 of the petition relates to Boripe Local Government. In my report I listed all the polling units in all the wards, but 5 wards are being challenged in the petition. In Ede North contained on pages 34-38 of the petition, my report covers all the units in this Local Government. “
Table 2 in Exhibit 243 lists polling units with registered voters above 300 which do not have voting points. According to PW 15, he relied on Exhibit 186, the Manual in reaching his conclusion that if there are more than 300 voters in a polling unit and no voting points are created, the votes will be invalidated. He referred to page 5 of the Manual which contains an introductory statement by Professor Abubakar Momoh. This statement is to the effect that-
“This Manual draws on the various modifications introduced by the commission particularly on accreditation and voting procedure at polling units with more than three hundred registered voters.”
We however do not see this as a legal requirement that a voting point must be created where the number of registered voters exceeds 300. There is no law stipulating that where registered voters exceed 300 and no voting points are created, the votes cast in such a polling unit should be cancelled. Even the said manual itself does not state so. Based on this erroneous assumption, PW15 in table 2 says 252,030 votes accredited to the 1st and 2nd Respondents are affected, while 139,789 of the votes credited to the Petitioners are affected. Under cross-examination by counsel to 2nd Respondent, PW15 denies any errors in his table 2. His attention was then drawn to page 32 of table 2; unit 006 in Osogbo local government area (ward 4 Ataoja D-Union Bapt. School) where there are 766 registered voters.
As stated earlier, these certified copies were made from the original of forms EC 8A which the Respondents’ witnesses said were duly stamped. This report is a confirmation of this assertion by the Respondents. While table 3 indicates that duplicate copies of forms EC 8A were not stamped, it also indicates that there were discrepancies in the duplicate copies, that there were alterations in some duplicate copies, while some duplicate copies were not signed.
In the case of Irewole, Ikire’ C’ ward 3 unit 009 it is stated that there are different entries on CTC of form EC8A and the duplicate copy. Polling unit 009 is Ijadubi Open space. The complaint in this unit as per the complaint in the petition is that the result of the election was not recorded as required by law and form EC8A for the unit was also not stamped.
Original and duplicate
While PW15 has noted some discrepancies in the CTC of form EC8A and their duplicate counterparts, he conceded under cross-examination by Prof. Osinbajo SAN for 2nd Respondent that-
I have seen table 3 of my report. I did not point out any discrepancy in the result stated on the original and duplicate of form EC8A.”
Table 5 in Exhibit 243 seeks to show areas where the total votes cast are more than the voters on the queue. For instance, in ward 3 unit 016 of Oriade Local Government the table shows that whereas there were 44 voters on the queue, the total votes cast was 54. The Petitioners are implying that extra votes were” imported.” While APC had 306 of such “imported “votes, PDP had 163. The evidence of all the witnesses for the Petitioners and the Respondents is that all accredited voters were a:lowed to vote. It is also their evidence that the accredited voters were told to go and come back at 12noon when voting would commence.
It is however not their evidence that accredited voters who were not on the queue at the time of counting were not allowed to vote. All that is required of an accredited voter is to ensure that he casts his vote before voting closes. What is clear from the totality of the testimony of PW 15 is that the alleged unlawful votes include votes from wards and units not in contention in the petition. With the inclusion of votes from areas not in dispute, his over-all summary cannot be relied upon as representing the true situation.
Upon a calm consideration of the totality of Exhibit 243, we entirely agree with the Respondents that it has been so discredited that no reasonable Tribunal can rely on it to hold that the votes credited to the 1st and 2nd Respondents are unlawful.
Page 131-136 of the judgment delivered by Hon. Justice Elizabeth Nguveren Kpojime; Hon. Justice Vincent Igometi Ofesi and Hon. Justice Abubakar Idris Kutigi on Friday the 6th Day of February, 2015.
OSUN DEFENDER