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SETBACK FOR UZODINMA AT TRIBUNAL, WITNESSES GIVE CONTRADICTORY TESTIMONIES
A star witness for Governor Hope Uzodinma at the ongoing election petition tribunal in Abuja has admitted that the votes garnered by the Governor exceeded the number of accredited voters.
Barrister Akolisa, who appeared before the Justice Oluyemi Osadebey-led panel on Friday, said that votes recorded for Governor Uzodinma in the Form EC8D result sheet issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) exceeded the number of accredited voters on the certified Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) report.
During cross-examination, he noted that the number of voters in the result sheet must tally with accreditation in the BVAS but could not fathom why there was a huge disparity in this case.
Also the principal of Mgbidi High School, where Governor Uzodinma allegedly obtained his controversial WAEC result was in court to give her testimony.
The school official, Lillian Ozoemena, brought to the tribunal a rubber stamp which she brandished as the official stamp of Mgbidi High School as her only means of identification.
However, she could not produce any evidence to back up her claims that Uzodinma passed through the school.
During cross-examination by the counsel to Sen. Anyanwu, Mrs Ozoemena said she was at the tribunal on her own and not in her official capacity contrary to the deposition in her witness statement.
The principal also said she was neither the Principal nor teacher at Mgbidi High School in 1982, discrediting her attempt to authenticate the controversial document.
The tribunal has adjourned the matter for the adoption of the written addresses of both parties to April 24, 2024.
Recall that INEC declared that Uzodinma won the governorship election by polling a total of 540,308 votes and his opponent Senator Samuel Anyanwu of the PDP scored 71,503 votes.
Mr Anyanwu and the PDP have challenged the outcome of the election, praying the tribunal to withdraw the Certificate of Return that was issued to Governor Uzodinma and declare Anyanwu as the duly elected Governor of Imo State.
They also alleged that Uzodimma submitted forged WAEC certificate to INEC in aid of his qualification to contest the governorship poll.
It can be recalled that in 2013, Festus Keyamo sued the West African Examinations Council, WAEC, over an alleged certificate forgery Uzodinma, then a senator representing Imo West at the National Assembly.
According to Keyamo, inquiry and investigation into the names and persons that graduated from Mgbidi Boys’ High School in 1982 revealed that Mr. Uzodinma was not a graduate of the school in that year.
