The Chairman of the Edo State Media and Publicity Directorate, APC Presidential Campaign Council in 2023, Mr. John Mayaki, has called on his party not to dignify the PDP and its candidate, Asue Ighodalo, with any witnesses in the ongoing governorship election petition tribunal, saying the burden of proof remains with the petitioners.
Mayaki, who hailed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the stand it took yesterday by not calling any witness, said, “The petitioners should be allowed to prove their case, if there was any. If a man says he has 100 witnesses and only ended up calling only 19, how does that show he is ready to prove his case, and why should another person help them achieve that?” he queried.
Mayaki said he would be glad if the APC takes the same approach as INEC, which didn’t see any reason to call witnesses when the petitioners have not provided enough evidence to prove their case against the election of Senator Monday Okpebholo as duly elected governor of Edo State.
His words: “There are precedents, and I think we should learn from them. For instance, in the 2019 Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, challenged the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the February 23, 2019, presidential election, but INEC opted not to call any witnesses.
“Similarly, in the same tribunal, the APC, as a respondent, also chose not to call any witnesses in its defense. The party’s legal team decided to rely on the cross-examination of the petitioners’ witnesses and the evidence already presented, concluding that it was sufficient to defend their case without introducing additional testimony.
“In the 2016 Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, the PDP and its candidate, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, filed a petition challenging the declaration of Godwin Obaseki as the winner, but INEC did not call any witnesses in its defense, with its counsel, Mr. Onyebuchi Ikpeazu, citing that the burden of proof remained with the petitioners and that the evidence presented did not necessitate a response from INEC.
“Also, in the 2023 Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, President Bola Tinubu, through his legal team, indicated plans to call 39 witnesses to defend his election victory but ended up calling only one, which was the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele. That was how the president closed his case, while the APC didn’t even dignify Peter Obi and Atiku with any witness. And I think Edo State APC should look in this direction too,” Mayaki advised.
