Posted by By JAMES OJO, Abuja. on
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said the Action Congress should bury its head in shame for lying on oath in its desperation to win its governorship petition in Osun State.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said the Action Congress should bury its head in shame for lying on oath in its desperation to win its governorship petition in Osun State.
A statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Mr. Lasisi Olagunju declared that the AC governorship candidate, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, his lawyer and their so called forensic expert should be charged for perjury having told lies in an affidavit out of desperation.
The statement, which was a reaction to Thursday's statement by the AC spokesman, Lai Mohammed in which he called for the disbandment of Osun Election tribunal, described the call as laughable and in bad taste coming days after the AC praised the tribunal for doing a good job.
The PDP advised the AC to act like true democrats by approaching the Court of Appeal for redress if it is dissatisfied with the ruling of the tribunal.
'We are not speaking for the tribunal but we have to speak out because in its double talk, the AC said the tribunal had consistently favoured the PDP. We note that the AC had before that ruling told the world that the tribunal was doing a good job because some of its rulings were against the PDP. Now, it is surprising that after this ruling which was the first major one against the AC, that party is calling for the tribunal's disbandment.
'Aregbesola, through his lawyer, claimed that Mr. Adrian Forty carried out, in the United Kingdom, forensic examination of ballot papers used in the Governorship election. We want the whole world to ask these characters where they got the ballot papers they analysed in the UK because INEC has told the tribunal that it did not release any document for analysis outside its office.
'These AC people had forgotten that INEC was keeping attendance lists of persons who carried out inspection of election materials in its office as ordered by the tribunal. Neither Adrian Forty nor Aregbesola nor the lawyer who claimed on oath that he witnessed the exercise was there. The attendance lists are before the tribunal as exhibits proving that the entire claims of the AC were tissues of lies.
'It is good too that even Lai Mohammed who signed the statement admitted that the order of the tribunal was that the materials be inspected in the office of INEC in Osogbo with counsel and agents of the other parties in attendance. So, who is to blame if Aregbesola wilfully disobeyed the court and in the process got his fingers burnt? The man cannot profit from an illegal act." Olagunju said.
The statement wondered where the AC got the impression that an analysis carried out by its own paid agents would be binding on all parties in the petition. It added that even if the ruling had favoured the AC, the tribunal would have been asked to grant a similar one for the PDP to conduct its own forensic examination of the materials.
It added that the AC should stop making statements that tend to portray it as a bunch of uninformed people stressing that the AC ought to have properly read the ruling and the several grounds upon which its application was refused before making wild allegations.