The governorship candidate of the Labour Party in Enugu State, Mr Chijioke Edeoga, told the election petition tribunal sitting in Enugu on Friday that he will call 36 witnesses to testify against Governor Peter Mbah of the Peoples Democratic Party to prove his certificate forgery.
Mbah, who was declared the winner of the March 18 governorship election in Enugu State by the Independent National Electoral Commission, is facing a mounting challenge from the Labour Party candidate, Edeoga, over his alleged forgery of the National Youth Service Corps discharge certificate presented to the electoral umpire.
Edoga is praying the tribunal disqualify Mbah over the alleged NYSC certificate forgery.
During the resumed sitting of the tribunal on Friday, the petitioners, through their counsel, Mr M. J. Numa, told the panel that they intended to call 28 witnesses as a whole within their control and eight subpoenaed witnesses.
Numa further told the tribunal led by Justice K. M Akano that they would require a period of five weeks to call the witnesses and had agreed that the witnesses within their control would need 15 minutes for cross-examination.
He added that they had taken care of the interpreter as they would schedule the process.
Responding, counsel to Mbah and the PDP, Mr Wole Olanikpekun and Mr Tochukwu Maduka, respectively, argued that the FCT High Court had resolved the issue of alleged certificate forgery as there was a leave of appeal and that Sections 177 and 182 of the constitution had settled the matter.
Numa said that there was no record of any appeal on such subject matter, adding that the court could not speculate on the existence of an appeal.
He said that the tribunal had competent jurisdiction for the matter and pleaded the court’s indulgence to strike out the objection.
“177 and 182 of the constitution are mutually exclusive, 182 has more elaboration than 177, so they are two separate provisions that stand on their own. I, therefore, invite your Lordship to decline those invitations,” he said.
The counsel to Mbah, Olanikpekun, said that they would be calling 44 witnesses, adding that they required 25 days to call all their witnesses and 15 minutes for cross-examination.
Olanikpekun said that the petition on the ground that the second respondent was not qualified due to alleged certificate forgery was not a petition before the tribunal, noting that the tribunal had no jurisdiction over the matter.
Also, counsel to the PDP, Maduka, stressed that there was no application for the alleged certificate forgery.
He added that the tribunal was not to determine whether the FCT High Court has jurisdiction or not.
He, however, told the tribunal that the PDP intended to bring 54 witnesses, which would include subpoenaed witnesses and forensic experts.
Ruling on the arguments of the parties, the Chairman of the Tribunal, Justice Akano, said that the tribunal would deliver its judgement on the alleged forgery.
The tribunal consequently adjourned the case to June 22 for the continuation of the hearing.
*(Courtesy, excluding headline, The PUNCH)
