BENIN CITY – Former Chairman of the Nigerian Football Association, Mr. Jaret Tenebe, on Friday told the Edo State Election Petition Tribunal sitting at the premises of the State High Court that as Etsako West local government collation agent and unit 6 ward 12 agent of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, he signed his unit result sheet irrespective of the over-voting he witnessed.
However, the petitioners’ witness, who in his deposition statement stated that there were 386 accredited voters, was shell-shocked when confronted with the result sheet of his unit, which read 390 accredited voters as against the 386 he claimed in his deposition statement.
Meanwhile, another witness, an ex-Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mr. Joe Atohengbe has owned up to having two signatures. He provided one alongside his passport photograph to his party and INEC, which was at variance with the signature on his written deposition.
When asked, “the signature on your written deposition is not the same your party submitted” Atohengbe answered thus: “Yes. I am aware but it is still my signature”.
Atohengbe of Uhunmwonde local government area who said he voted in ward 4, unit 4 added, “I am aware that accreditation and voting was done simultaneously, but in my own case, I presented my card and I was accredited and I proceeded to vote”.
Atohengbe, who also stated in his deposition statement (page 940, paragraph 3) that his party scored 48 votes in ward 9 unit 7, however contradicted himself when confronted with form EC8 (b), the unit result. In it, PDP scored 78 votes. He then argued that he did not willfully chose a lower figure in order to mislead the court.
