Obiano still a registered voter in Lagos state–Ngige tells court

Senator Chris Ngige yesterday told the Anambra State Election Tribunal sitting in Awka that Governor Willie Obiano is still a registered voter in Lagos State.

Ngige, who returned to the witness box to continue his evidence following the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Enugu, which restored some paragraphs of his petition, tendered in evidence, an extract of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) voter register for Lagos State, certified by Lagos State Office of INEC on April 23, 2014 and showing the name of Chief Willie Maduabuchi Obiano as having voted in the governorship and Presidential elections of April 2011.

Obiano’s lawyers had claimed in their defence that Obiano transferred his voter’s card from Lagos to his hometown in Anambra State.

But the Senator, who was the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate at the last November 2013 governorship election, yesterday insisted that:  “Whatever is in this register as at  April 24, 2013 when it was certified, is the situation of the register now, since Lagos State has not done any review of their register since 2011.”

His statement followed the question by INEC counsel, Adegboyega Awomolo, who asked him if there was any remark by INEC to confirm that the tendered certified extract of the register marked Exhibit 424, was the current state of the register.

Ngige also tendered the certified true copy of Obiano’s Form EC4B, an INEC form that captures the particulars of nomination of a candidate as submitted by the respondent’s party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and it was admitted in evidence and marked Exhibit P.415.

Also admitted and marked as Exhibit 423 was Obiano’s INEC Form CF 001, which exhibits Obiano’s voter card no 332 obtained on September 3, 2013.

The tribunal however, rejected the application by Oluwarotinmi Akeredolu, counsel for  Ngige and the APC, to tender  66 files  containing  extracts of missing pages in the election  compared to the register given to political parties for not satisfying  the law on the admissibility of evidence.

Asked by counsel to APGA, Osita Nnadi (SAN) if he did not see the review of voters register as an  opportunity to remove the names of dead persons, Ngige said, “Yes, but it is also an opportunity to remove the names of transferred voters from the same register, which has not been done for Obiano as at April 24, 2014.