Trouble For Adeleke As Tribunal Insists INEC Chairman Must Produce His Certificates

Trouble For Adeleke As Tribunal Insists INEC Chairman Must Produce His Certificates

The Osun State Election Petition Tribunal has issued a fresh order directing the National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to produce Ademola Adeleke’s certificates and other documents used in the 2018 governorship election.

The order came after the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the commission failed to produce the certificates in the previous sitting in accordance with the commission’s Subpoena.

Governor Adegboyega Oyetola is contesting the INEC’s declaration of Adeleke as Governor-elect.

The tribunal, chaired by Justice Tertsea Kume, ruled on Friday that the mere presence of the REC representative did not answer the Subpoena requiring the commission to produce the documents.

The tribunal stated in its ruling that an application for a subpoena is in the Administrative Act, but once granted, it becomes a Judicial Act, and the party to whom the subpoena is issued must comply, citing Sections 218 and 219 of the Evidence Act.

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It ruled: “An order of the court is bound to be complied with by the party upon which it was made until it is set aside by the court. In the instant case, the order has not been complied with.”

The tribunal also ruled that the respondents’ request that the petitioners continue calling the witness whose testimony is hinged on Adeleke’s credentials was without merit, because the petitioners have complete control over how their case is handled.

The panel stated that the application was made as a result of the state REC of the commission’s failure to produce the documents requested in the Subpoena.

According to the ruling, the petitioners provided sufficient grounds for the tribunal to order the National Chairman of INEC to produce the requested documents.

It then dismissed all of the objections raised by the counsel for INEC, Adeleke, and the PDP, ordering the commission’s Chairman to produce the documents at the panel’s next meeting on Thursday, December 1.

Chief Akin Olujinmi, SAN, counsel for the petitioners, described the ruling as well-researched, saying it would go a long way toward serving the course of justice in the petition hearing.

Chief Olujinmi, speaking to journalists shortly after the proceedings, said the court did the right thing by reordering INEC to produce the requested documents containing Adeleke’s certificates.

He added: “The respondents, as we said during the last sitting, didn’t want to produce that document and that was why we had to argue at length to persuade the tribunal to reorder, which they eventually made today.

“The effect of this is that the INEC is now under a binding obligation to produce these documents at the next appearance in court on Thursday, December 1st, 2022,” he added.

Prof. Paul Ananaba, SAN, counsel for INEC, also admitted that they were now ready to comply with the court’s order by producing the requested documents.

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