By Simon Ebegbulem

BENIN—IT was drama yesterday at the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, sitting in Benin City, where witnesses who testified on behalf of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its  governorship candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, confessed that they signed false signatures and gave fake addresses in the depositions they made before the court for security reasons.

Apart from that, the witnesses, who were at the tribunal to buttress the point made by the petitioners that there were cases of multiple voting and non-accreditation of voters in most of the polling units being contested, shocked the tribunal when they confessed that they were not accredited although they voted.

There was spontaneous laughter when two of the witnesses, Ekpomriri Henry and Imra Shuaibu, while being cross examined by counsel to All Progressives Congress, APC, H. O. Afolabi and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, counsel Onyinye Anumonye.

When told that in his deposition he did not describe himself as the PDP agent in Unit 2, Ekpomriri agreed, saying: “I did not describe myself that way because of security reasons. That was why I had to give a fake address and signature just for safety reasons.”

When he was reminded that he lied under oath and that he voted even when he was not accredited, witness Shuaibu said: “I have not lied under oath but I had to use the false signature and address for security reasons. Again, I voted without accreditation because I had no option I had to perform my civic rights.”

The drama continued when another witness from Weppa Agenebode, in Etsako East Local Government Area, Idodo Abdul Rasaq, alleged in his deposition that there was multiple voting in Units 3, 6 and 4, but that there was no problem where he voted in Unit 1. When Afolabi pointed out to him that while he was faulting the result of other units which were not directly under him, he even committed a greater offence when he did not undergo accreditation as stipulated by the electoral law, but he went on to vote.

The witness confessed that “The INEC people gave me paper and I voted without passing through accreditation. But I can say that there was nothing wrong in my unit but there were multiple voting in units 3, 6 and 4.”

Again, another witness, Alhaji Muhammed Shuaibu who was the PDP agent alleged multiple voting in units 6, 4,7,9,2 & 3.

He claimed he voted in unit 9 but when he was shown the voters register, he could not identify his name and yet he has a voter’s card.

Ruling on the matter, Justice Ahmed Badamasi who led the panel, concurred with the argument of the Afolabi SAN after backing it up by law, saying “ the application to allow the witness produce his voters card at this point lacks merit and it is therefore refused.”