Asue Ighodalo, the candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party, filed a case contesting the election scheduled for September 21, 2024, and the Edo State Governorship Election case Tribunal postponed the hearing till Tuesday.
Delays in providing the respondents with the petitioners’ witness schedule led to the adjournment.
The state governor, Monday Okpebholo, the counsel for the Independent National Electoral Commission, and Kanu Agabi, Onyeachi Ikpeazu, and Emmanuel Ukala, representing the All Progressives Congress, objected to the petitioners’ attempt to call witnesses during the hearings.
The attorneys for the respondents contended that they were ill-prepared for cross-examinations since they had just been given the petitioners’ witness schedule minutes prior to the hearing.
Ukala said, “In view of the Tribunal’s directives on Saturday and the agreement reached by all parties that the witness schedule list should be exchanged at least a day before witnesses are called, we expected the schedule to be served on Sunday through electronic or other means. However, this was not done.
“We did not receive the list until about 9:50 a.m., just before the hearing resumed this morning. Our understanding of the Tribunal’s directives and the consensus reached by the parties is that no party should be taken by surprise. This purpose is clearly defeated when the witness list is served mere minutes before proceedings begin.
“In these circumstances, the petitioners, by their own actions, have made today’s proceedings impossible. We are ready to continue tomorrow.”
Ikpeazu also took a similar stance to Ukala’s, saying, “We are in the same predicament, my Lord. Our duty is to assist Your Lordship in reaching a fair decision, but we cannot do so under these circumstances.”
Adetunji Oyeyipo, the petitioners’ attorney, defended the petitioners by claiming that the respondents’ witnesses were threatened, which resulted in the delay in serving them.
“My Lord, we did not deliberately delay the circulation of the witness list. The situation we found ourselves in up to Sunday evening necessitated the delay. The state APC Chairman made a broadcast on television, which we have on tape, where he threatened to apprehend our witnesses and PDP supporters within the court premises.
“He specifically said they would be arrested if they showed up today. We sent this video to counsel for the 3rd respondent but received no assurance of safety or security for our witnesses.
“We urge the Tribunal to reject their application for adjournment and allow us to proceed with our witnesses. After all, they are only eight in number,” Oyeyipo submitted.
Justice Wilfred Kpochi, the chairman of the Tribunal, supported the respondents’ claims in his decision, claiming that they required enough time to get ready for cross-examination.
Tuesday was chosen as the new date for the hearing.