AC’s forensic expert alleges multiple voting in Ekiti gov election

11.03.2008

THE ongoing governorship election petitions in Ekiti State on Monday took a new dimension as the forensic expert hired by the Ekiti State chapter of the Action Congress (AC) in respect of the petition gave a demonstration of how rigging was allegedly perpetrated in the April 14, 2007 election.

The AC governorship candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, is challenging the victory of the state governor, Mr. Segun Oni, in the election, claiming that the election was rigged in favour of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate.

Giving evidence before the tribunal sitting in Ado-Ekiti, Mr. Adrian Forty, a British expert, graphically showed the panel how multiple voting was done in the election.

For several minutes, Forty held the tribunal spellbound as he showed, through Power Point Projector presentations, that same thumbprint were used on ballot papers for the PDP governorship candidate.

Speaking on the documents that formed the basis of the report he and a team of forensic experts carried out on the materials used in the election, he testified that documents that had been marked as Exhibit A2 before the tribunal was the list of the local government areas, wards and the polling unit numbers, as well as the records of the unique serial number found at the top of each ballot paper.

Led in evidence by counsel for the AC governorship candidate, Chief Anthony Adeniyi, the British expert explained to the tribunal that “Page 2 of A2 is a contact sheet containing 35 images of the impression of the thumbprint on each ballot paper.

“These are also in sequential order and related to the ballot sheet because the images were arranged in the order as they were arranged in the booklet. It was possible for the experts to compare adjacent images and identify instances of multiple voting.”

The court room suddenly turned quiet as Forty displayed photographs that had been projected on the wall to show instances of the multiple voting his team discovered during the examination of the ballot papers used for the election.

“You can see on the images a distinctive characteristic scar which occurs time and time again, it is the same finger. The scar from one ballot booklet, it occurs on consecutive ballot papers time and time again. These are example of multiple voting,” he told the tribunal.

Also demonstrating that consecutive ballot papers from the same booklet in which they were issued, he said “the purpose is to demonstrate instances of multiple voting. We can see from the screen that they are all impressions from the same person. There is a scar which occurs time and time again. They are consecutive ballot papers, the serial numbers are consecutive.”

With the images displayed on the screen, the forensic expert explained to the court that the images were all multiple votes, although some were dark, some not so dark and some faint, in a regular pattern.

Earlier, Oni’s counsel, Chief Duro Adeyele (SAN), as well as counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Chief Roland Otaru (SAN), had raised an objection to Forty’s intention to give a graphic demonstration of the report of his investigation on the grounds that they were not known to law.

“He cannot be demonstrating with machines that are not before your lordships. It is not his duty to demonstrate how the examination was done in INEC office, London or Bristol . This same witness wanted to demonstrate this thing before your learned brothers in Ondo (tribunal), but they refused him,” Otaru said.

But the tribunal chairman, Justice Usman Bukar Bwala, after listening to arguments from both counsels, ruled that based on the decision of the panel on March 5, Forty could render further evidence and graphically demonstrate the basis of his findings.

The presentation and examination was still ongoing as at the time of filing this report but it is likely that the AC forensic expert would be cross-examined today by the PDP counsels.