Four additional witnesses have testified at the Governorship Election Tribunal in Nasarawa State, brought forward by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Dr. Emmanuel David Ombugadu. They are challenging the declaration of Governor Abdullahi Sule as the winner of the 2023 election.
During the testimonies, the PDP party agent alleged that the entire result of the Ashige Ward was canceled at the Lafia LGA Collation Centre. The collation center officer reportedly refused to enter the results into Form EC8C as required by law, and the results were excluded in the Form EC8D for the total computation of votes during the result declaration.
One of the witnesses, the Polling Unit agent for Alwazan Polling Unit Code 009, stated that elections were held in their unit, and PDP emerged as the winner. However, the results were not computed into the corresponding Form EC8B for the Sabon Gari Ward of Doma Local Government Area.
The petitioner’s ward collation agent, who testified as witness number 10, also stated that election results for the Alwazan Mada Polling Unit Code 009 were not entered in the Form EC8B for the ward, as mandated by law.
Furthermore, the petitioner’s Ashige Ward collation agent testified that elections were successfully held in 35 polling units in Ashige Ward, with the petitioner emerging as the winner in those units.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) produced additional documents in response to a subpoena issued by the tribunal and served on INEC upon the application of the petitioners during the resumed hearing. These documents were certified true copies of Polling Unit results (Forms EC8As) and voters’ registers of identified polling units won by the petitioners. The documents were admitted as evidence and marked as exhibits.
The Tribunal chairman, Ezekiel Ajayi, adjourned the sitting for the continuation of the hearing after listening to the testimonies of the four witnesses.
