At the resumed hearing on April 5, 2024, a forensic expert report was tendered at the court, leading to objections from the counsels representing Ododo & APC. The opposing counsels argued that they had just received the documents the previous day and needed time to study them.
In response, JS Okutepa SAN, representing the SDP, requested that the witness be allowed to proceed with the cross-examination, emphasizing the urgency of the proceedings as time has already been consumed.
RULING:
The tribunal ruled in favor of the SDP and Muri Ajaka, allowing the expert to tender the reports. The cross-examination of the witness will be scheduled for a later date to be agreed upon by the parties involved.
The forensic expert was tasked with the inspection and analysis of all documents, ballot papers used in the Kogi State governorship election held on November 11, 2023, including BVAS. It was discovered that, ballot papers were thumb-printed fraudulently and this has been revealed in the course of this analysis. In most cases, multiple ballot papers were thumbprinted by single individuals, as their thumbs has been identified.
Today’s hearing was focused on determining the admissibility of those documents.
