Senator Dino Melaye, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the November 16, 2019, Kogi-West senatorial election, has told the Kogi State National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal that he made himself available at all the 564 polling units on the election day.
The former lawmaker said this before the Election Tribunal led by Justice Isa Sambo on Monday.
Malaye is challenging the result of the election that was won by the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate, Smart Adeyemi.
Some of Melaye’s polling agents who were also witnesses at the tribunal had earlier testified against him before the tribunal saying the election was free, fair and violent-free.
When Adeyemi’s lawyer, Dr. Oladapo Otitoju, asked Melaye if he was aware of the testimonies his agents had given before the tribunal, the ex-lawmaker said his agents cannot speak for him just as he cannot also speak for them.
Further asked where he got the information about irregularities in the election, he said: ”I was everywhere on the election day in the 564 units.”
When the lawyer demanded to know which polling unit Melaye voted and what was the result of the election, he told the tribunal that he could no longer remember, adding that he was not aware that the result was recorded in his polling unit.
He was later provided with the form EC8-D1 containing the result of the polling unit and was asked to read it but he claimed he could not see it clearly because his glasses got broken when the tribunal went on a short break.
After other arguments the tribunal adjourned further sitting in the petition to April 21, 2019.
At the last adjourned date, a witness, Ibrahim Jimoh, Ijumu Ward Collation agent, said he was not at the venue of the declaration of result after votes were counted.
He said he relied on the report of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, after the election.
But according to electoral laws, party agents must be available when results are counted before it is declared.
Jimoh told the tribunal sitting at the Federal High Court in Abuja that he was not available when results were counted but relied on an INEC report.
When asked by Adeyemi’s lawyer, Otitoju, if the ballot papers were counted in his presence, he said no, adding that he relied on INEC report and what other agents told him.
According to him, the election went on peacefully without violence.
When asked how he got the result, he said: ”I was not there. I was not on ground. Yes, It was the second agent that came to tell me the figure”.
Another witness, Ademola Samuel, a farmer, after adopting his statement on oath as evidence before the tribunal also said the election was without violence.
According to him, he examined the results after the election, but when asked to shed more light on his analysis of the examination of the results, he said he acted on what he was told.
