The Ogun state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has reacted to a twisted and sponsored report that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed to call its sole witness at the ongoing proceedings at the Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abeokuta in order to avert “national embarrassment”.
Recall that Ladi Adebutu of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is challenging the re-election of Governor Dapo Abiodun.
The party, in a statement issued on Wednesday by the Publicity Secretary, Tunde Oladunjoye, said, “It is pitiable that one needs to be educating the People’s Democratic Party and its defeated-fugitive candidate, Ladi Adebutu, every other time.
“It is true that INEC chose not to call its witness anymore. This should rather be a source of sadness to PDP and Adebutu instead of juvenile celebration. We thought they should be worried that INEC has found, and rightly so, the porous petition of PDP and Adebutu as not worthy of calling any witness for, since the petition holds no water.
“Has PDP forgotten that INEC’s lawyer has dutifully cross-examined PDP’s witnesses and thoroughly exposed them as liars and unreliable witnesses whose evidences were inconsistent, copied and dubbed repetitions?
“For example, PDP’s witnesses claimed to be non-partisan members of the public before they were exposed to be card-carrying members of PDP. Also, PDP’s witnesses’ statement were the same, word for word, in several instances even when the witnesses are from different polling units and different local government areas.
“If we may ask: Has PDP forgotten that its much-touted “expert statistician” told the Tribunal that the claim of over voting by the PDP was false? What witness will INEC need again when PDP’s witnesses and its so-called expert have put a lie to all claims by the loser’s party and rubbished the essence of its time-wasting petition?”
The party said the electoral commission should be commended for not wasting precious judicial time.
“INEC should rather be commended for not joining PDP and fugitive Adebutu in further wasting the time of the Tribunal. The Tribunal is certainly not a Circus.
“And by the way, when will fugitive Ladi Adebutu return home to face the criminal charges of money laundering and vote-buying against him before the courts?”
