Gyang Bere, Jos
Plateau State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sen. Jeremiah Useni has told the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Jos that his witnesses brought before the tribunal are under security threats.
Useni’s counsel, Mike Ozekhome (SAN) told the three-man panel that most of his witnesses from the rural villages have been threatened with death and retribution against their families. Ozekhome, who stated this when he called the petitioners’ first witness for the day, Moses Azi Wakili, said his clients’ witnesses are being deliberately and systematically targeted and threatened with “instant death.”
“Some were told that if they must testify, then they should stay back in Jos after testifying and not return to their communities,” he told the court. Consequently, two of the seven witnesses (names supplied) scheduled to testify on Thursday changed their minds and left the tribunal premises.
The witness, Wakili, repeated his allegation of over-voting in his polling unit in Jos East Local Government Area. He explained that the original result of his polling unit is contained in the Pink Result Sheet and not the white copy that the Respondents’ counsel tried to compel him to read from.
The petitioners further presented 49 more documents and called five additional witnesses to strengthen their petition. Four more witnesses testified on what they had complained about as criminal over-voting in their respective polling units.
