Ekiti: Forty and his forensic burden

By Yemi Akangbe

IF there is one thing the governorship candidate of the Action Congress (AC) during the April 14, 2007 gubernatorial poll in Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi would want to rework if given the opportunity to reverse the hand of the clock, it must definitely be the hiring of Mr. Adrian Forty, a United Kingdom based forensic expert by his party to examine voting materials used during the election. Fayemi, after losing the governorship election to the incumbent governor of the state, Engr. Segun Oni of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had left no one in doubt as to his capability to get result of the election upturned at the Election Petitions Tribunal.

First, Fayemi informed whoever cared to listen that incidences of election rigging were captured with the aid of satellite camera. Many Nigerians were bought over by this claim until the scales in their eyes were pulled off with the Morphing and Synching analogy. Morphing is the process of taking someone’s photograph and activating it while Synching is synchronising the lips with another voice. In the local parlance, it simply means putting Mr. A’s head on Mr. B’s body.

Perhaps this timely analogy by a top journalist made Fayemi and his AC to jettison that idea. It must have explained why the AC has not presented a single photographic (still or motion) evidence at the tribunal despite the fact that it is almost concluding its case. Fayemi, through his expertise in propaganda, made it to appear as the one-stop solution to the quest for the attainment of his imaginary mandate. For instance, when the tribunal granted the AC’s request to use a forensic expert to examine the ballot papers used during the governorship election on August 8, 2007, its supporters went into wild jubilation. It was as if the final judgment had been delivered in favour of Fayemi. But the initial hope and enthusiasm of the AC gave way to despair on March 12, 2008 after Mr. Forty was cross-examined by counsel to Governor Oni, the PDP and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The ever dancing AC supporters appeared grief-stricken as they left the tribunal premises unnoticed. No dancing! No noise making.

The cross-examination unarguably threw up so much dust that may not settle in a hurry, thereby making it extremely difficult for AC to make a meaningful headway in the case at hand. Details of that exercise, which were made public by a group called Movement for Peace and Good Governance (MOPEGO), show for instance that Mr. Forty did not see the originals of the ballot papers which he worked on. He only relied on scanned and cropped ballot papers, which he admitted were prone to manipulations. He admitted that cropping as a process entails adding, deleting, editing and manipulating images. Those who did the scanning too were not known to Forty except Mr. Tunde Yadeka whose integrity the forensic expert said he could not vouch for. Above all, Forty admitted that he and the other 50 experts who worked with him only relied on their naked eyes for the forensic examination. It then remains to be seen how the use of naked eyes of 51 individuals could pass for forensic examination.

Apart from the above, the cross-examination also exposed a fundamental irregularity in the AC’s petition and because of this; some groups have called for the prosecution of the forensic expert. MOPEGO in a petition dated March 18, 2008 urged the police to commence investigation into the perjury allegation, saying; it is either Adrian Forty lied on oath by claiming to be simultaneously in Ado-Ekiti and London on May 11, 2007, or Mr. Lanre Sulyman Babakebe lied on oath by claiming that Adrian Forty was in Ado-Ekiti on May 11, 2007. “Mr. Adrian Forty, a Briton and a forensic expert deposed to an affidavit before the Commissioner for Oaths, Governorship/Legislative Houses Election Tribunal on May 11, 2007. “Mr. Lanre Sulyman Babakebe, a legal practitioner of Yusuf O. Ali Chambers, No. 24, Wahab Folawiyo (Unity) Road, Ilorin also deposed to an affidavit on March 3, 2008 affirming that Mr. Adrian Forty was indeed before the Commissioner for Oaths in Ado-Ekiti on May 11, 2007.”

“On February 14, 2008, Mr. Adrian Forty deposed to another affidavit and claimed in paragraph 8 that on May 11, 2007, he was invited by Mr. Oba Nsugbe, QC, to his Chambers at Pump Court Chambers, 34, Pump Court Temple, London and he did meet with the said Oba Nsugbe. “On March 12, 2008, Mr. Adrian Forty, under cross examination at the Election Tribunal said that he was in London throughout May 11, 2007.” “The implication of the above is either that Mr. Adrian Forty lied on oath by claiming to be in Ado-Ekiti and London on May 11, 2007, or Mr. Lanre Sulyman Babakebe lied on oath by claiming that Adrian Forty was in Ado-Ekiti on May 11, 2007. Whichever way, it amounts to perjury in law.” “Again, if indeed Mr. Adrian Forty was in London on May 11, 2007, someone must have deposed to annexure A and forged his (Forty) signature,” the petition read.

Proceedings at the ongoing Election Petitions Tribunal in Ekiti State had taken an interesting dimension on Tuesday, March 11 and Wednesday, March 12 when Adrian Forty stunned the court by denying that he deposed to any affidavit on May 11, 2007 as claimed by the petitioner. Forty, while being cross-examined by lead counsel to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mr. Roland Otaru (SAN) and lead counsel to Governor Segun Oni, Mr. Adebayo Adenipekun (SAN) at the resumed hearing of the tribunal said that he was in London, United Kingdom on the day in question contrary to the deposition in the affidavit in which he was presented to the tribunal as the deponent before the Secretary of the election petitions tribunal on May 11, 2007. “I am not the author of exhibit PW 17A (the controversial affidavit). On February 14, 2008, I was before the registrar in Ekiti,” Forty said, claiming that he only made deposition on February 14, 2008 and not May 11, 2007 as claimed in the AC’s petition,” Forty told the tribunal.

Controversies surrounding these affidavits are what the police have been asked to investigate. And as Fayemi and his AC continue to carry the self-inflicted burdens of the failed forensic experiment, analysts are also beginning to see between the lines, reading outright insincerity into the party’s quest to rule Ekiti State. Or what does anyone call a case of someone being in London and Ado-Ekiti on the same day? And the fact that Adrian Forty himself had laid the blame of the fraudulent May 11, 2007 affidavit on the doorsteps of the AC goes to say how corrupt the minds of Fayemi and his AC are.

Akangbe, a public analyst, lives in Ado-Ekiti.