An army
officer, Captain Garba Sani, told the Rivers State Governorship
Elections Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja on Wednesday that he never
saw where election was conducted in Tai Local Government Area where he
and his other men were deployed to maintain peace and order on April 11,
2015, the day the poll was scheduled to hold.
The Mohammed
Ambrosa-led tribunal overruled the objection by Governor Nyesom Wike,
his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, and the Independent National
Electoral Commission, before Sani was allowed to give his oral evidence
on Wednesday.
Sani, a
subpoenaed witness, who said he led 37 other soldiers on a patrol of the
entire Tai, which is one of the 23 local government areas in Rivers
State, said he appeared before the tribunal on the directive of army
authorities.
The
soldier, who is of the Bori Camp, Army Barracks in Port Harcourt, Rivers
State capital, said he received the directive of the army authorities
through the Directorate, Legal, of the Nigerian Army, after his unit
received “a signal” about the subpoena served on the Chief of Army
Staff, Maj.-Gen. Tukur Buratai.
The subpoena served on the Chief of Army Staff was obtained upon a request by the petitioners – the All Progressives Congress and its candidate in the April 11 poll, Dr. Dakuku Peterside – who are challenging the declaration of Governor Wike as the winner of the election.
The
soldier, led in evidence by the petitioners’ counsel, Chief Akin
Olujinmi (SAN), said his team’s patrol started at about 6pm on April 10
into the night and up till the election day on April 11
The subpoena served on the Chief of Army Staff was obtained upon a request by the petitioners – the All Progressives Congress and its candidate in the April 11 poll, Dr. Dakuku Peterside – who are challenging the declaration of Governor Wike as the winner of the election.
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