Kogi West: PDP agents fault claim of over-voting

Eric Ikhilae, Abuja

 

Mr. Philemon Enoch, a witness called by the People Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the last election in Kogi West senatorial district, Senator Dino Melaye, told the Kogi State National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal on Friday that there was no over-voting during the election.

Enoch, a carpenter, who said he served as PDP’s agent during the election, admitted, while testifying before the tribunal, which currently sits in Abuja, that ballot boxes were not also snatched during election.

”There was no over-voting during the election. No ballot box was snatched in my unit. I was the one who signed the result for PDP during the election,” he said.

Melaye, who is the petitioner, claimed, in his petition that the election, won by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Smart Adeyemi, was among others, marred by malpractices, mayhem and manipulations.

Another petitioner’s witness, Ishaq Abdulrahaman, admitted that voting, accreditation and counting of votes were peacefully done without intimidation and harassment.

Abdulrahaman said he served as an agent of the PDP during the election.

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The third petitioner’s witness – Gimba Timothy – who said he is a farmer and acted at PDP’s agent, said he could not remember the score of the PDP in the election in unit 008 where he acted as agent.

He also said the result sheet he signed, he did not take a look at it before signing.

When challenged by Senator Adeyemi’s lawyer, Dapo Otitoju, that he was never an agent of the party having been unable to remember the score of his party at the election, the witness insisted that he was an agent of the PDP.

He said: ”I could not remember what my party scored at the election because it has been a long time the election took place.

“I am the agent of PDP, but can’t remember what happened again. I did not read the document given to me after the election before I signed.”