Kaduna Guber Election: PDP presents INEC forms, voter registers, to Tribunal

On Tuesday, evidence was submitted to the State Election Petition Tribunal by Isa Ashiru, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for governor of Kaduna State in the 2023 election.

INEC forms EC8A, EC8B, EC8C, EC8D, EC8E, and EC40G series from various polling units and several local government areas of the state were admitted as exhibits by the three-man panel of the tribunal, led by Justice Victor Oviawie.

Dr. Ayodele Adewole, one of the key attorneys for the PDP and its candidate, produced voter register papers for 40 voting units in Kaduna South Local Government as part of the documents they presented to the court.

Legal documents from Giwa, Chikun, Igabi, Kachia, Kaduna North, Kaduna South, Kagarko, Kubau, Kudan, Lere, Sabon-Gari, and Zaria were submitted to the tribunal by the PDP’s legal team. All of the evidence that was submitted was accepted.

The lawyers for the first (INEC), second (Uba Sani), and third (APC) respondents had earlier contended that the petitioner’s lawyers had disobeyed a court order for them to meet for the uptaking of exhibits before they were presented to the court.

In his request for a postponement of the case, Muh’d Sani Katu, attorney for the third respondent, said that all counsels should meet to organize and label the exhibits.

To elaborate, he said, “We can not proceed as it stands, this is because the order is not been complied with.”

In his objection, lead counsel for the PDP and Ashiru, Oluwole Iyamu, indicated that the attorneys for the first, second, and third respondents had been given ample time to organize, mark, and review the relevant evidence in advance of today’s hearing, but had failed to do so.

“The court registrar can attest to the fact that the 1st, 2nd and 3rd respondents’ counsels were given the opportunity, and several efforts were made for them to come for the sorting and marking of the exhibits but, they declined,” PDP lead counsel said.

Counsel for the petitioner must provide all exhibits to the court, the court ordered after hearing arguments from both sides.

Iyamu also told the court that further documents from INEC would be produced as part of the exhibits.

To allow petitioners’ lawyers more time to submit evidence, the hearing has been postponed until July 10, 2023.