There appears to be palpable tension in the air as the Governorship
Election Petition Tribunal will tomorrow (Friday) deliver judgement,
on a suit involving the state Governor, Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq
and the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),
Hon Razak Atunwa in the last general election.
Atunwa and the PDP had approached the Tribunal challenging the
authenticity of the Secondary School Certificate presented by
Abdulrazaq to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The petitioners through their counsel, Wahab Bamidele held that the
certificate was forged and by implication, Abdulrazaq lacks the
veracity to contest the poll.
However, the legal battle between the duo at the Tribunal will come to
end following the verdict that will be handed down by the 3-man panel
of judges, chaired by Justice Bassey Efiong.
The two parties in the suit and loyalists of Abdulrazaq and Atunwa are
eagerly awaiting the verdict of the judges over the matter.
The Tribunal will determine first whether it has jurisdiction to
entertain the issue raised by the petitioners.
It will also determine whether the petition is competent or not as
claimed by the respondents.
Respondents in the case are INEC, represented by Rowland Otaru SAN,
Governor Andulrazaq who is being represented by Akin Olujimi, SAN,
among others.
At the last hearing, the parties involved in the matter presented
their final written addresses even as they canvassed their positions.
The addresses were however adopted by the election panel.
The petitioner counsel, Bamidele called on the tribunal to hold that
Abdulrazaq was not qualified to run in the election based on his
alleged forged certificate.
The PDP’s candidate, who had listed several witnesses for the case,
only called the West African Examination Council (WAEC) to testify in
the matter.
In its testimony, however, WAEC said, Abdulrazaq wrote the examination
and had his certificate issued to him as Razaq A.R, the same name he
used for the exam.
WAEC, which was represented by Olorunsola Victor, a senior examination
officer, had also told the tribunal in one of the hearings that at
least 31 other candidates also had their names abbreviated in the same
year.
Counsel to the All Progressives Congress, Akin Olujimi (SAN), had
prayed the court to dismiss the petition, pointing out that there was
procedural here say in the application.
