Election tribunal: Yakowa wants case dismissed

Posted by admin Elections 2011, Kaduna, State News Thursday, September 29th, 2011

Kaduna State Governor, Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday urged the Election Petition tribunal sitting in Kaduna to dismiss the case brought against him by the governorship candidate of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Haruna Sa’eed Kajuru.

Kajuru on the other hand also urged the tribunal to uphold all his prayers and declare him winner in the case, even as the tribunal Chairman, Garba Kwajafa reserved judgment till a later date.

Leading counsel to Yakowa, Joseph B Daudu (SAN), represented by Yunus Ustaz Usman (SAN), having adopted their written addresses which were filled on September 15, 2011, and a reply on point of law filed on September 27, 2011 decided to, according to him, ‘amplify’ issues of criminal allegation and evaluation of dumped documents by the petitioners.

Usman argued on the issue of criminal allegation that, “the petitioners themselves have admitted that they have not proved the issue of corrupt practices, as contained on page 8, paragraph 4.01 and page 10, paragraph 4.07 of the petitioners written addresses, and we urge your Lordship to so hold.”

He also submitted on the issue of evaluation of dumping of documents that, “the law is consistence to the effect that the documents the party intends to rely on must be demonstrated by witnesses who must tie each aspect of the documents to the petitioners aspect of the addresses by the witnesses, but not from the back.”

Yakowa’s counsel further noted that as long as the documents were tendered and a voters register pleaded by the petitioners, the next step for the petitioners was to call Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s witnesses which they failed to do, “and therefore we urge your Lordship to dismiss this case.”

Counsel to the INEC, the second respondent, Emmanuel Toro (SAN) said the Commission would rely on its two written addresses, “and fortify ourselves in respect of our submission on pages six and seven of our final address that the entire criminal allegation must be proved by the petitioners.”

-Vanguardwp_posts