The Independent National Electoral Commission, on Monday, tendered electoral documents against the Social Democratic Party and its candidate, Murtala Ajaka, at the Kogi State Governorship Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja.
The SDP and its candidate in the November 11, 2023 governorship election are challenging INEC for its declaration of incumbent governor and candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Usman Ododo, as the winner of the poll.
Ododo won the election with 446,237 votes to defeat his closest rival, Ajaka of the SDP, who scored 259,052.
The petitioners had, on April 6, 2024, closed their case after calling 25 witnesses.
During Monday’s proceedings, INEC opened their case by submitting some documents before a three-member panel of justices, led by Justice Ado Birnin-Kudu.
Some of the documents tendered by the commission’s lawyer, Uchenna Njoku, include the INEC Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of the Election, INEC Manuals for Electoral Officers, and INEC Form EC8C.
Others include INEC Form EC8B, INEC Form EC8E, List of Accredited Agents for SDP, List of Accredited Ward Agents, and Receipts of Payment for Forms, among others.
After the documents were tendered, Justice Birnin-Kudu admitted them in evidence and marked them as exhibits.
Njoku then applied for an adjournment to enable the electoral umpire to present its witnesses on the next adjourned date.
The judge adjourned the matter until April 16 for continuation of the hearing.
Earlier, Justice Birnin-Kudu, who observed that the SDP’s petition would elapse on May 29, reduced the number of days given to the respondents to present their cases and for filing the final written addresses from 10 to five days.
He assured that if five days were not enough, the panel would not hesitate to give additional days.
