Edo election tribunal: I was not present in any polling unit during election, am relying on secondhand reports. PDP’s witness, Ose Anenih

I was not present in any polling unit during election, am relying on secondhand reports. PDP’s witness, Ose Anenih

The only witness of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), brought to testify today, before the Edo State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja, Mr. Ose Anenih, has said he was not physically present in any of the polling units during the elections but that he is relying on secondhand reports. 

Anenih who told the tribunal that he served as the Director of Research and Strategy for the PDP during the September 21st 2024 governorship election also said he was not trained by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to perform any official role during the election. 

The star witness who acknowledged that none of the polling unit results was handed to him directly by the PDP agents however added that his evidence was primarily derived from reports submitted by his party agents. 

During cross-examination by Emmanuel Ukala, SAN, counsel to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Anenih was caught in the web of his own statement when shown one of the exhibits he was relying on. 

The credibility of Anenih’s testimony became glaring, when he said it was “not correct” to say that the majority of the results lacked INEC stamps but however admitted that several were unstamped. 

His words, “It is not correct that majority of the results that were brought by our agents were not stamped by INEC, though some of them were not”.

When he was handed one of the Exhibits to look at, the witness confirmed to the tribunal that out of 16 copies of the results in the bundle, only three of them were stamped.