TAMBUWAL VS AMINU: INEC makes U-turn, says it won’t present any witness before election tribunal

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared that it won’t present any witness before the Governorship Appeal Tribunal in Sokoto.

That much information was revealed on Tuesday by the Lead Counsel of the electoral body Barr. Alhassan Umar, moments after the tribunal adjourned till July 30, the case filed by the APC governorship candidate, Ahmed Aliyu challenging the election of Governor Aminu Tambuwal of PDP.

According to the legal representative of INEC (1st respondent in the case), the electoral commission will not present any witness after it earlier promised to present 12 witnesses before the tribunal.

He said; “We have reviewed the petition and the witnesses called by the petitioners. We will rely on the evidences we have extracted from the cross examination of the witnesses of the petitioners,” he stated.

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According to him, “We are within the law and the law allows that. So, we will not be calling any witnesses.”

That information took Emmanuel Ukala, SAN, the Lead Counsel for the 2nd Respondent, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal aback.

Waziri expressed shock that INEC had reversed its decision to call on witnesses noting that he did not factor that into his planning but he however told the tribunal that Tambuwal would like to commence his defence hearing on the 1st of August.

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