Tribunal orders INEC on electoral documents certification

The Abia Governorship Election Petition Tri­bunal has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Umuahia to comply with the Supreme Court prescription on certification of election docu­ments.

The Chairman of the tribunal, Hon. Justice Usman, gave the or­der, following a complaint by Prof. Awa Kalu, counsel for the gover­norship candidate of the All Pro­gressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the April general elections in Abia, Dr. Alex Otti.

Awa had sought an order of the tribunal compelling the Umuahia INEC’s chief legal officer (CLO) to come to the tribunal premises to re-certify documents he earlier certified without putting his name.

He recalled that several efforts made by his client to obtain certi­fied true copies (CTC) of election documents from the commission had been met with frustrations.

He said that it took the interven­tion of INEC’s lead counsel, Chief Solomon Awomolo, before some of the CTCs were issued.

Awa’s application came on the heels of the tribunal’s rejection of Form EC8A series for Ward 1, Unit 001-003, which he tendered in re­spect of the election in Isialangwa North Local Government Area.

The tribunal rejected the form because it did not have the name of INEC CLO.

The chairman said that the docu­ment was not duly certified in line with the recommendations of the Supreme Court.

The tribunal also ordered Umua­hia INEC to comply with the sub­poena served on it.