Chinelo Obogo
The Court of Appeal sitting in Owerri, the Imo State capital, yesterday adjourned for judgment, an appeal instituted by the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the last general election, Senator Ifeanyi Araraume over the decision of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal on July 11 2019.
In a ruling by Justices Malami Dogondaji, Aminu Saad and Mojisola Sule, the tribunal barred the appellants from fielding a senior official of the Independent National Electoral Commissioner (INEC), Ama Ibom Agwu, who was summoned pursuant to a subpoena from testifying, despite that the subpoenaed witness had entered the witness box and placed under oath.
In the petition number: EPT/GOV/IM/03/2019, Senator Araraume and APGA said that the learned judges erred in law when they refused to receive the testimony of Agwu without setting aside subpoenaed witness who had entered the witness box and placed under oath.
The appellants further adduced that the tribunal ‘’misdirected’’ itself in law when it relied on the provision of Order 3 Rule 3 (1) as well as Civil Form 1 (A) of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rule 2009 to prevent the petitioners’ witness from testifying when the sanctions provided for non-compliance with those rules do not support barring a subpoenaed witness from offering his testimony to the tribunal.