The Niger State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal on
Friday ordered the father of the state governor, Col. Sani Bello,
and four others to appear before it on Thursday, June 27, 2019.
Others to appear before the tribunal are a former Registrar of
the National Examination Council (NECO), Prof. Promise Okpalla; the
incumbent Registrar, Alhaji Abubakar Gana; the Director General of
the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) as well as the Education
Secretary of Mokwa Local Government.
The tribunal also ordered a fresh service on the individuals who
are expected to tender documents and testify in respect of the
academic certificates presented to the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) by Governor Abubakar Sani Bello and his
deputy, Alhaji Ahmed Mohammed Ketso, for the purpose of the March
2019 governorship election.
The chairman of the tribunal, Justice John Igboji, who ordered a
fresh service on the affected persons, said that the initial
service of the subpoena on them was defective as they were not
personally served.
Justice Igboji said that only the Mokwa Local Government
Education Secretary was personally served but failed to show up
before the tribunal, stressing that though “his action amounted to
contempt, the petitioner could adduce secondary evidence in his
place”.
The tribunal held that the other subpoenaed witnesses could not
have committed contempt of court as they were subpoenaed to appear
on June 20, while the petitioners sought for their arrest on June
19.
Mohammed Ndayako, the counsel to the petitioner, Umar Mohammed
Nasko and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had on Wednesday asked
the tribunal to issue bench warrants against the subpoenaed
witnesses for their failure to appear before it.
The governorship candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Nasko, and his
party, the PDP, had dragged the All Progressives Congress (APC)
candidate, Sani Bello, and his deputy, Ketso, before the tribunal
for allegedly presenting forged academic and birth certificates to
INEC apart from violating the electoral act.