The absence of a witness of the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) on Tuesday stalled proceedings at the resumed hearing of the
petition filed by the All Progressive Congress (APC)s and its governorship
candidate in the April 11, 2015 governorship election in Delta State, Olorogun
O’tega Emerhor. It will now hold on Wednesday, September 30, 2015.
The Tribunal Chairman, Justice Nasiru Gunmi after
reviewing the application for adjournment brought by INEC counsel for the day,
Mr. Onyiye Anumonye, and the opposition to the vehement application for
adjournment put up by counsel to the petitioners, Chief Thomson Okpoko, as well
as averments in support of the application by Okowa’s counsel of the day, Chief
Ken Mozia (SAN) and Mr. Kehinde Ogunwumiju for Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),
said the tribunal is not happy with the request for adjournment, nevertheless
it had no choice but to adjourn as requested.
APC and Emerhor, had filed a petition challenging the
declaration of Senator Ifeanyi Okowa as winner of the April 11, 2015 election
by INEC.
The adjournment
at the resumed hearing of the petition, followed an oral application from the
bar, by INEC lead counsel for the day, Onyinye Anumonye Esquire, who was
expected to open defense but instead, pleaded that the document INEC sought to
tender was not available with him in court and that the INEC witness, who was
billed to testify at the tribunal called to say that she was indisposed.
He also told
the tribunal that his lead counsel, Damian Dodo (SAN), had called the night
before to inform him that he had already discussed the matter of the
adjournment with the petitioner’s lead counsel Chief Thomson Okpoko, SAN, and
that was what had informed the need for the application.
“We experienced
some challenges that made it impossible for us to start today. Our intention
was to tender a document, call one witness and close our case today, but we
were able to receive the document on which we intend to rely our case on and
our witness sent word that she was indisposed and would be unavailable today.
It is, therefore, with a deep sense of responsibility and profound apology to
the tribunal and our most revered and respected senior SAN, that I make this
application for adjournment from the bar till Wednesday 30 September, 2015, to
open and close our case”, Anumonye pleaded.
But Counsel for
Emerhor and the APC, Chief Thomson Okpoko (SAN), quickly and intensely objected
to the application on the grounds that the excuses given were not tenable,
noting that the tribunal had less than 30 days to deliver its judgment.
“I am afraid of
what is going on here. This excuse of lack of document is not sufficient to
call for an adjournment. They have filed all their documents so I don’t see how
this single document can cause an adjournment. This whole trial will be over by
the 28 October and we have barely a few weeks left”, a visibly angry Chief
Okpoko said.
He also
informed the tribunal that he had discussed with Mr. Dodo, SAN who had not only
described the document in question to him, but had also assured him that INEC
had no intention of calling any witness, as their case would be to just tender
the document and then close their defense, adding that he, Chief Okpko had even
volunteered to help transport the document to the tribunal if it was properly
sealed, in order to avoid any further delay.
Supporting the
application however, Ken Mozia, SAN, lead counsel to the First respondent,
Senator Okowa, while praising Anumonye as a hardworking young counsel who would
not hesitate to tender the document if it was available, told the tribunal that
absence of both the witness and document meant that an application for
adjournment was inevitable, especially, against the backdrop that even Chief
Okpoko himself had previously applied and had been granted several
adjournments, based on tendering certain documents of his own, by the tribunal.
Lead counsel of
the day for the Second respondent, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Kehinde
Ogunwumiju, who was having his second bite
at leading case for the PDP, in the absence of lead counsel Akinlolu Timothy
Kehinde, told the tribunal that while the petitioners had already had four
adjournments already granted them in the course of the trial, including two
whole days used to sort documents at the insistence of the petitioners, this
was only the first adjournment that INEC as Third respondent was asking for and
it would only be fair in the interest of equity to grant them this one
application, especially since they had at least four days to do their defense
and yet had pledged to commence and conclude their case on the same
day.
In their
ruling, the three-man tribunal panel led by its chairman Justice Nasiru Gunmi, expressed
unhappiness at the adjournment sought by INEC, given the short time left to
conclude the hearing and especially on the grounds that it was the third
respondent that chose the specific day, however granted the application, but with
cost against INEC in form of reducing the time earlier allotted them to prepare
their final written address.
“We frown on
this adjournment sought by the third respondent (INEC) to the fifth respondent
when the tribunal does not even have up to 35 days or thereabout to deliver its
judgment. Nevertheless we grant the application for adjournment but with costs
to the third respondent since we have about two weeks to sort through all the
sensitive documents and listen to the final address,” Justice Gunmi said.
The sitting was
then adjourned till Wednesday September 30, 2015, to also accommodate the Muslim
Sallah celebration and holidays.
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