The Taraba State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja on Saturday adjourned hearing of the suit challenging the election of the Governor of Taraba State, Darius Ishaku to August 31 to enable counsels attend the Bar Conference following the plea by all the counsels.
Justice Musa Abubakar, the Chairman of the tribunal admitted the witnesses presented by the petitioners.
The witnesses testified in the suit filed by the All Progressives Congress Governorship Candidate, Senator Aisha Alhassan, contesting the election of Ishaku of the People’s Democratic Party.
However, the witnesses were cross examined by all the counsels involved in the suit, including Mahmud Abubakar (SAN), counsel to Alhassan.
Others in the suit are Kanu Agabi (SAN), counsel to Ishaku; Solo Akuma (SAN), counsel to the PDP; and Abayomi Akanmode, counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The five witnesses are Salisu Musa, Kuzafa Yahaya, Ishaiku Babasani, Usman Sanusi and Charles Istifanus, who all affirmed that they were APC party agents for the April 11, 2015 poll.
Salisu Musa, from Kurmi Local Government Area of Taraba State’s Bente Galiyay ward, said there were irregularities and over voting in his polling unit.
Musa alleged that the election was full of irregularities and urged the tribunal to cancel the election saying that the total votes cast in his unit were in excess by 14 votes.
On his part, Ishaiku Babasani of Kola ward said that INEC should be held responsible for the anomalies done in his ward. He further told the tribunal that his unit was Hawai Primary School 2.
During the cross-examination, Akanmode, the counsel to INEC, accused Babasani of giving a wrong polling unit as the unit where he served as an agent.
Similarly, Usman Sanusi told the tribunal that the April 11 polls in the state was credible but that of his polling unit in Zing Local Government Area was not credible.
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