By VINCENT UJUMADU

AWKA-Anambra State House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal II, sitting in Awka, was Tuesday told that an assistant secretary of the tribunal (names withheld) allegedly smuggled a document into the case file pending at the tribunal with the alleged connivance of a petitioner.

The document in question was in relation to a petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate for Ogbaru 11 constituency, Mrs. Njideka Ezeigwe, challenging the victory of Chief Benson Nwawulu of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA.

According to counsel to APGA and Nwawulu, Mr. T.A. Oguji, what is purported to be a letter from the tribunal is not a document of the tribunal, but something allegedly manufactured by the petitioner and smuggled into the records of the tribunal.

He urged the tribunal to compare its documents with what the tribunal’s secretary served the respondents on September 23, 2011, adding that if the respondent’s exhibit 4, which was allegedly forged had existed as claimed by the petitioner, they (counsel to the petitioner) would have made reference to it in their counter affidavit of September 17, 2011.

Urging the tribunal to discountenance the document and regard it as a worthless piece of paper, the respondent’s counsel argued that the affidavit of facts sworn to by the assistant secretary of the tribunal to the effect that he did not commit the offence, failed to answer the big question as to how the document got into the case file.

Also urging the tribunal to discountenance the document, counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Mr. A.Y Ibrahim submitted that there was no application written by the petitioner for an application to be made.

Ibrahim urged the tribunal to take note of the discrepancies on the face of the document attached to the petitioners’ affidavit and the letter served on the respondents, including the signatures on the documents.

The INEC counsel further argued that the two affidavits sworn to by the two assistant secretaries of the tribunal, absolving themselves from the allegation, failed to explain the where about of the letter that was supposed to be in the case file.

But the counsel to the petitioner, Mr. Martin Okeke in his submission, said the affidavit of facts by the assistant secretary of the tribunal gave all the needed information and rendered the allegation by the respondents unnecessary.

Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Y. A. Adesanya fixed ruling on the matter for October 13, 2011.