Posted by By ABRIEL DIKE, Osogbo on
A witness, Mr. Bambo Adegoke, from Ife East Local Government of Osun State, who came to give evidence in support of the Senate Committee Chairman on Appropriation, Otunba Iyiola Omisore on Thursday collapsed in the witness box under cross-examination and had to be rushed out for fresh air on the order of the Justice Hamman Barka-led election petitions tribunal, sitting in Osogbo.
... AC loses 3 petitions
A witness, Mr. Bambo Adegoke, from Ife East Local Government of Osun State, who came to give evidence in support of the Senate Committee Chairman on Appropriation, Otunba Iyiola Omisore on Thursday collapsed in the witness box under cross-examination and had to be rushed out for fresh air on the order of the Justice Hamman Barka-led election petitions tribunal, sitting in Osogbo.
Senator Omisore of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) opened his defence in the petition filed by Hon. Jide Omoworare of the Action Congress (AC) against his declaration as winner of April 21, 2007 National Assembly election.
Omoworare had closed his case on Monday after calling 66 witnesses and tendering 95 exhibits in support of his petition including tendering the impeachment documents against Senator Omisore as deputy governor in December 2002.
Adegoke was the only one present in court on Thursday out of the 176 witnesses listed by the respondent, who opened defence of his election as senator representing Ife/Ijesa Senatorial District of Osun State.
The witness initially looked hale and hearty as he stepped into the witness box and was sworn on oath while counsel to Senator Omisore, Mr. Wahab Ismail led him in examination-in-chief with questions relating to his witness statement which he earlier deposed to before the tribunal last year.
Having been led to recognize his statement and adopting same, Ismail took his seat for the cross-examination to begin. As the cross-examination was to start, Mr. Wale Afolabi, counsel to the petitioner, requested for all electoral documents already tendered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for Ife East Local Government.
At the sight of the electoral documents, Adegoke began sweating profusely and became discomforted after which he fell and hit his head against the wooden top of the witness box.
Justice Barka immediately ordered that the witness be taken out of the court room so as to allow him breathe fresh air and regain consciousness and when it became apparent that Adegoke could not continue in the witness box, Omisore's counsel returned to ask the tribunal to adjourn proceedings.
There was no objection from the other parties and consequently, the matter was adjourned to Thursday, April 17, 2008 to enable the respondent produce more witnesses.
In a related development, the AC lost three petitions before the Osun State election petition tribunal just as the tribunal dismissed another one filed by the PDP against the AC for lack of merit.
Two of the petitions were filed by the AC against the victory of the PDP in two House of Representatives contests while the remaining two were in respect of House of Assembly seats won by candidates of the two parties.
The tribunal, headed by Justice Thomas Naron, declared as lacking merit, a petition filed by the AC candidate for Ife Central State Constituency, Adetilewa Sijuwade, against the victory of the state's Deputy Speaker, Ropo Oyewole of the PDP.
Another petition filed by the PDP candidate for Irepodun/Orolu State Constituency, Olaosebikan Abass, against Kamil Oyedele of the AC was similarly dismissed by the tribunal for lack of merit.
Meanwhile, further proceedings continue today before the tribunal in the case of Mr. Rauf Aregbesola who is contesting the election of Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola.
The tribunal had adjourned till today after dismissing an application for a stay of proceedings brought by Aregbesola's counsel. The court of Appeal in Ibadan also on Monday refused to grant a stay of proceedings to the petitioner on the matter.
Aregbesola, who frontloaded 126 witnesses, has so far called 80 witnesses.