Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN), CAN’s gubernatorial candidate
There was a mild drama at the venue of the Kwara State Governorship Elections Petitions Tribunal Monday, as one of the principal witnesses of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the hearing of the election petition, Mr. Adeola Olaiwola, admitted before the tribunal that there were errors in his statements on oath.
The gubernatorial candidate of the ACN, Mr. Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN), is challenging the election of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the April general election in the state.
The admittance of the witness came up after about four hours, of cross-examination by counsel to the first respondent, Mr. Kehinde Eleja.
Olaiwola said the errors were typographical and could only affect the conclusion on the areas in which it was meant to substantiate.
He further admitted under cross-examination that he was not an expert in data gathering and analysis, but had acquired sufficient knowledge after years of experience.
“There is no international best practices in analysing electoral materials,” Olaiwola said.
Asked if he was aware of the Helinks Declaration of 1978 on international best practices on data analysis, which stipulated that all parties to a dispute should be present during analysis, Olaiwola said no, and confirmed that PDP agents were not present during the analysis of the documents as international best practices demanded.
Also, another witness, one Mr. Martins, had earlier during cross-examination, denied being a forensic expert, but an Information Technology (IT) Officer.
Martins, who had earlier claimed in an Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) material that he was a forensic/IT expert, stated in his statement on oath that he was merely an IT officer.
However, the ACN counsel was initially overruled by the tribunal in his attempt to object to the process of tendering document in which the witness claimed he was a forensic expert, which contradicted his statement on oath.
Monday was the last day granted ACN to present all its witnesses before the tribunal in the on-going petition.
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