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Gyang Bere, Jos
Plateau State governor, Simon Lalong, has told the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Jos that he was qualified to contest the 2019 governorship election in the state.
Lalong said he was elected by a majority of votes cast across the 17 local government areas during the governorship election.
Counsel to Lalong, Mr Pius Akubo (SAN) disclosed this on Thursday during cross-examination of the first witness brought by the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Sen. Jeremiah Useni.
Useni, through his lead counsel, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), raised four issues to be determined by the tribunal among them “whether Lalong and APC were duly elected by the majority of lawful votes cast at the tribunal.
“Whether the election of the second (Lalong) and third (APC) respondents was not invalid by reason of corrupt practice.”
The Director-General of Useni Campaign Organisation, Prof. Dimis Mailafia, who was the first witness, urged the tribunal to adopt his averment, adding that he was not aware of any material contradiction existing in the elections.
But under cross-examination by counsel to Lalong, Mr. Akubo Mailafia agreed that he knew that Lalong was APC governorship candidate, adding that his party (PDP) did not raise any objection to his candidacy before the election.
He said he was not aware whether any other candidate laid claim to the certificate given to Lalong.
The counsel to APC, Mr. Garba Pwul (SAN) also cross-examined Mailafia where he admitted that “Simon Bako Lalong” was the name he used to contest the election throughout, adding that by the time Lalong contested the governorship election, he was the only APC candidate.
When Auwalu Muazu from Wase local government of the state mounted the witness box, he found it absolute difficulty in explaining what over-voting means because that was the bone of contention in Wase PDP.
But after some tutoring and education, spoke in Hausa and was assisted by an interpreter; he was able to say that the number of voters was more than the number of accredited voters.
Akubo assisted the witness by asking him whether he meant that the number of total votes cast was in excess of accredited voters which he quickly admitted.
Asked if he had any quarrel with the accredited votes, he said he had no grudge at all but that his quarrel was with the number of people who voted which was more than the accredited.
Another witness, Nasifi, Sule Babale, also from Wase said in spite of irregularity occasioned at the election, he still appended his signature on it.
Babale was entangled again in the web of contradiction when he said APC’s result was changed from 268 to 296 because Akubo pointed out that there was nothing like 296 in the result sheet that he (Babale) signed.
