By
Managing Editor
______________________ _____
The Zamfara Governorship election petition tribunal sitting in Sokoto has adjourned to 21st of August 2023 for adoption of final written address by parties.
This was announced today by the Chairman of the panel after INEC the 3rd respondent to the petition filed by former Zamfara Governor Bello Matawalle had closed its defense.
INEC had earlier during the pre-trial conference intended to bring over thirty witnesses to testify, but later decided to call only four witnesses.
The witnesses invited to the tribunal are the ward collation officers for Damage/Gama-Giwa, Dosara Birnin Kaya, Maradun North and Janbako.
Their cross-examination by the APC counsel Ibrahim Ali (Esq) borders around the ward results they collated and to whom they submitted the result to.
All the four witnesses testified that they collated and handed over their result to Dr. Ahmad Kainuwa the Maradun local government collation officer whom they said is responsible for transmitting same result to the state collation office in Gusau.
When confronted with the duplicate of the result sheet tendered by the APC to be able to verify whether if the figures contained in reflected the original result they handed over to Dr. Kainuwa on the day of the election, some of them said they could not read it due to its non clarity.
On whether they were present when Dr. Ahmad Kainuwa compiled the result collated and took same to the state collation office in Gusau, majority of them said they were not there.
After intensive cross-examination of the four collation officers by the APC counsel, INEC closes its case and thereafter the tribunal fixes 21st of August 2023 for adoption of the final written address.
Final address for the objections raised will also be adopted there, and then a date will be fixed for judgment.
