At the ongoing governorship election petition tribunal in Ogun State, the request to re-examine a witness of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by Prince Dapo Abiodun’s lawyer, Taiwo Osipitan, was turned down.
The witness, Olalekan Toyin Odesanya, who voted at Wesley Primary School polling unit in Ijebu North East, took the witness box after a staff of Zenith Bank subpoenaed the records of delivery of the 200,000 Verve cards allegedly produced on behalf of the petitioner, Hon. Ladi Adebutu.
Odesanya claimed that Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards, allegedly distributed by the agents of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), were responsible for the disruption of the election at his polling unit.
The cards were tendered by a Rosemary, who worked at the bank’s Card Services Department.
A Verve card bearing the name of Dame Caroline Adebutu was shown to Odesanya during cross-examination by the lawyer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Olumide Ogidan, and the following ensued:
Ogidan: Were you accredited with the BVAS machine?
Odesanya: Yes.
Ogidan: Was the election going peacefully without a hitch?
Odesanya: Yeah.
Ogidan: You stated that an agent of the petitioner distributed the card. (Shown to be confirmed.)
Odesanya: Yeah.
Ogidan: It is because of the card that there was disruption?
Odesanya: Yes, everybody was shouting ‘Owo Baba Ijebu’.
The APC counsel also cross-examined the witness, and the following conversations took place:
APC: You came to this court on the 15th of May 2023.
Odesanya: Yes.
APC: You said that Baba Ijebu, that is Kessington Adebutu.
Odesanya: It’s Ladi Adebutu.
APC: That Baba Ijebu is on the card?
Odesanya: They wrote Dame Caroline, the mother of Ladi Adebutu.
APC: Confirm that those cards caused the disruption.
Odesanya: Yes.
Ladi Adebutu’s lawyer, Gordy Uche, took over the witness for cross-examination.
Uche: Confirm that your polling unit is Wesley Primary School.
Odesanya: Yes.
Uche: Would it surprise you that results were declared in the PU; APC 66 and PDP 139?
Odesanya: Results declared by INEC and certified?
Uche: You can’t read?
Odesanya: I can.
Uche: Look at it.
Odesanya: It is a fake result!
The court erupted in laughter.
Uche: Just check, is it Wesley School?
Odesanya: Yes.
Uche: Will you also be surprised that the result was cancelled because of overvoting?
The witness appeared shocked, and the court again erupted in laughter.
Uche: Check the EC40G. Is that not Wesley Primary School? Just check.
The witness was confused.
Uche: Check the ticking, it is overvoting and not Adebutu.
The court laughed again.
Uche: You’re not a voter but APC executives?
Odesanya: No.
The court laughed.
Uche: Look at the card, is Ladi Adebutu there?
Odesanya: No.
Uche: Do you see PDP on that card?
Odesanya: No.
Uche: What are the names of the PDP agents sharing the card?
Odesanya: I don’t know.
Uche: They shared the card and you collected?
Odesanya: Yeah.
Uche: Did the card make you vote for PDP?
Uche: Did you withdraw the money?
Odesanya: Yes.
Uche: Did you vote for PDP?
Odesanya: No.
Uche: Check your paragraph 5, the Baba Ijebu they were shouting, is it there?
Odesanya: No.
Uche: Did you state that you collected the card and cashed it?
Odesanya: No.
The court laughed again.
Uche: Confirm to me that the card will expire in February 2026.
Odesanya: Confirmed.
Uche: Bring another witness! (Mockingly at the respondents).
The court laughed again.
Dapo Abiodun’s lawyer, Taiwo Osipitan, requested to re-examine the witness, saying that the questions posed by Adebutu’s lawyer, Gody Uche, were ambiguous. He argued that this was what misled the witness into the inconsistent response.
The request for re-examination of the witness was then also echoed by the APC and INEC. But the court overruled him, saying there was no ambiguity.
Gordy Uche: The court should stand on her earlier ruling when ambiguity was ruled against the petition.
Ruling: There is no ambiguity in the question of the petitioner; hence re-examination is overruled.
The court laughed.
Adebutu is fighting the legitimacy of the second term given to Price Dapo Abiodun at the election tribunal sitting in Abeokuta.
He is insisting that what happened on March 18, 2023, in the gateway state was not an election but an electoral heist, as the current governor was accused of several crimes ranging from ineligibility to stand for election, overvoting, ballot snatching, intimidation, and illegal collusion with electoral officers to declare false results.
Stay with Freelanews for regular updates on the tribunal.
Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator and a recipient of the D9112 Superstar Icon Award, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.
