Charles lwuoha, Enugu

As the pre-trial sitting of the Ebonyi State Election Petition Tribunal sitting at the Judicial Headquarters Abakaliki ended on Friday, counsel to the Member Representing Ikwo/Ezza Federal Constituency Barr. Arthur Obi Okafor, accused the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of tampering with the INEC election result sheet issued to him for inspection by the tribunal.

This was disclosed to newsmen by the representative of the counsel to the first respondent Barrister Agbom Friday Agbom shortly after the tribunal sitting in Abakaliki.

The petitioner Comrade Chinedu Ogah and Hon. Lazarus Ogbe contested to represent Ezza south/Ikwo Federal constituency at the Green chambers, during the general elections on 23rd February 2019.

It could be recalled that the petitioner, Comrade Chinedu Ogah after the National Assembly elections on February 23, 2019, and declaration result filled petition to the court to grant him access to Inspect independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) result forms.

A.F Agbom who said that he was representing first respondent Lazarus Ogbe, second respondent Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under Roy Umahi and the third respondent Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) also said that all the parties involved acknowledged the falsification of INEC result form.

He said: “Today is for retrial of section of the court, to harmonies all the pleadings and to determine issues for the court. And to know the areas in contentions and what is really the contention.

“You can see that the parties agreed that there is a fortification of result, that the INEC result is being falsified by the petitioner for the purpose of this tribunal.

“The petitioner applied to court to grant him the privilege to inspect INEC documents and possibly to get the result forms for satisfaction which INEC complied to.

“But at the processes of photocopying there was a compromise a total falsification of the original result and when we looked at the duplicate issued at the pulling units it's totally different from what is being paraded by the petitioner.

“INEC having noticed that wrote to the petitioner to return the falsified result, so both INEC, first and the second respondents are now relying on the duplicate.

“INEC is now summoning security agents to bring the duplicate result in their possession to compare to what the respondents have.”

Agbom further disclosed that the petitioner was only challenging the result of four wards in Ikwo and Ezza south LGAs.

“The petitioner is only challenging four wards in Ikwo, INEC has produced the authentic result of those wards.

Four wards that the results being paraded by the petitioner is domed fake result because they never emanated from the processes of election.

“The election has procedure, the presiding officers have also written their report on what transpired during the election at the various pulling unit. It is what transpired in the polling units that leads from the ward collation to local government collations.

“In Ezza south LGA what is in contention there is that the result issued to the party agents, you know after the election result is declared at pulling unit, the party agents and the security agencies are being issued the duplicates and the same thing is being registered at collation center at the ward level.”

Update news