Court admits video clips in Obi’s petition

Election petitions tribunal
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The Presidential Election Petition Court admitted in evidence two video clips tendered by the Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, in aid of his petition challenging the conduct and outcome of the February 25 presidential election.

At the resumed hearing on Friday evening, the petitioners through their counsel, Jubril Okutekpa (SAN) informed the court that they had subpoenaed Channels Television to produce the recordings contained in two flash drives.

Okutekpa disclosed that two separate subpoenas, dated May 30 and June 6, were served on the TV station, which he said sent one of its staff members, to tender the requested evidence.

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The Justice Haruna Tsammani-led five-member panel admitted the subpoenas in evidence and marked them as Exhibits PBH-1 and PBH-2.

One flash drive was said to carry video clips of an interview that the Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmoud Yakubu, granted before the general elections, where he gave an assurance that the results of the election would be electronically transmitted in real time.

The other one was a press conference by a national commissioner of the commission, Festus Okoye, who reiterated the commitment of the commission to electronically transmit the results.

In a move to present the content of the video clips in the open court, a senior reporter and editor at Channels TV, Lucky Obese-Alawode, was summoned to the witness box.

However, the respondents in the petition vehemently opposed the move by the petitioners.

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Counsel for the President, Akin Olujinmi (SAN), queried the competence of the witness on the grounds that his statement was not filed alongside the petition.

Relying on Paragraphs 4 (5) and (6) of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act 2022, President Bola Tinubu’s lawyer argued that the law was clear that a petition must be filed within 21 days after the declaration of the result of an election.

He contended that the petitioners ought to have attached all the necessary documents as well as the list of witnesses they would call in support of their case, at the time the petition was filed.

He added, “A petition which fails to comply shall not be accepted, that is what the law says. My lords, it was after the proceeding started today that the statement of this witness was served on us. This is over three months after the declaration of the result of the election was made.

“This witness was not listed by the petitioners and his statement was not attached to the petition. To that extent, he is not a competent witness who can testify before this court.”

He contended that the petitioners were aware that they would rely on the said video recordings at the time they filed the petition, yet did not attach it to the list of their documents.

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Aligning with the disapproval by Olujimi SAN, the Independent National Electoral Commission, through its lawyer, Kemi Pinhero (SAN), argued that Obi and LP should have listed the proposed evidence in their petition.

However, counsel for the petitioners, Okutekpa (SAN) contended that the witness was competent enough to testify as the subpoena was an order of the court that he had no command over.

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The objections, notwithstanding, the panel admitted the two flash drives in evidence and marked them as Exhibits PBH-3 and PBH-4.

Again, when counsel for the petitioners applied for the contents of the flash drives to be played in the open court, the respondents disagreed except for the electoral commission which was indifferent.

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Olujimi maintained that his client was not served with any copy of the flash drive.

He further stated that playing the video clips without his clients’ foreknowledge of their content would rob them of the right to a fair hearing.

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He added, “This case is not hide-and-seek. We are entitled to be served with a copy so that we can know the content and be able to prepare. Until we are served, we will oppose allowing it to be played.

On its part, counsel for the All Progressives Congress, Solomon Umoh (SAN), said it would amount to an ambush for the petitioners to play the content of the flash drives without first serving the same on the respondents.

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Ruling on the matter, the chairman of the five-man panel, Justice Tsammani, held that the position of the respondents was not prejudiced against playing the video clips but on their non-service beforehand.

He, however, adjourned the matter to Saturday afternoon for the video clips to be played in the open court due to time constraints.

Credit: Punch

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Sanya Onayoade

Continental Editor, North America

SANYA ONAYOADE is a graduate of Mass Communication and a Master of Communication Arts degree holder from the University of Ibadan. He has attended local and international courses on Media, Branding, Public Relations and Corporate Governance in many institutions including the University of Pittsburgh; Reuters Foundation of Rhodes University, South Africa and Lagos Business School. He has worked in many newspaper houses including The Guardian and The Punch. He was the pioneer Corporate Affairs Manager of Odua Telecoms Ltd, and later Head of Business Development and Marketing of Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO Plc).

He has led business teams to several countries in the US, Asia and Europe; and was part of an Aviation investment drive in West Africa. He has also driven media and brand consultancy for a few organizations such as the British Council, Industrial Training Fund, PKF Audit/Accounting Firm and Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme. He is a Fellow of Freedom House, Washington DC, and also Fellow of Institute of Brand Management of Nigeria. Sanya is a member of Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) and Project Management Institute (PMI). He is a 1998 Commonwealth Media Awards winner and the Author of A Decade Of Democracy.
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Morak Babajide-Alabi

Continental Editor, Europe

Morak Babajide-Alabi is a graduate of Mass Communication with a Master of Arts Degree in Journalism from Napier University, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. He is an experienced Social Media practitioner with a strong passion for connecting with customers of brands.

Morak works as part of a team currently building an e-commerce project for the Volkswagen Group UK. Before this, he worked on the social media accounts of SKODA, Audi, SEAT, CUPRA, Volkswagen Passenger Cars, and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. In this job, he brought his vast experience in journalism, marketing, and search engine optimisation to play to make sure the brands are well represented on social media. He monitored the performance of marketing campaigns and data analysis of all volumes of social media interaction for the brands.

In his private capacity, Morak is the Chief Operating Officer of Syllable Media Limited, an England-based marketing agency with head office in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The agency handles briefs such as creative writing, ghostwriting, website designs, and print and broadcast productions, with an emphasis on search engine optimisation. Syllable Media analyses, reviews, and works alongside clients to maximise returns on their businesses.

Morak is a writer, blogger, journalist, and social media “enthusiast”. He has several publications and projects to his credit with over 20 years of experience writing and editing for print and online media in Nigeria and the United Kingdom.

Morak is a dependable team player who succeeds in a high-pressure environment. He started his professional career with the flagship of Nigerian journalism – The Guardian Newspapers in 1992 where he honed his writing and editing skills before joining TELL Magazine. He has edited, reported for, and produced newspapers and magazines in Nigeria and the United Kingdom. Morak is involved in the development of information management tools for the healthcare sector in Africa. He is on the board of DeMiTAG HealthConcepts Limited, a company with branches in London, Lagos, and Abuja, to make healthcare information available at the fingertips of professionals. DeMiTAG HealthConcepts Limited achieved this by collaborating with notable informatics companies. It had partnered in the past with Avia Informatics Plc and i2i TeleSolutions Pvt.

Out of work, Morak loves walking and also volunteers on the board of a few UK Charity Organisations. He can be reached via http://www.syllablemedia.com
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Ademola Akinbola

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Brief Profile of Ademola Akinbola

Ademola AKINBOLA is an author, publisher, trainer, digital marketing strategist, and a brand development specialist with nearly three decades of experience in the areas of branding, communication, corporate reputation management, business development, organizational change management, and digital marketing.

He is the Founder and Head Steward at BrandStewards Limited, a brand and reputation management consultancy. He is also the Publisher of The Podium International Magazine, Ile-Oluji Times, and Who’s Who in Ile-Oluji.

He had a successful media practice at The Guardian, Punch and This Day.

He started his brand management career at Owena Bank as Media Relations Manager before joining Prudent Bank (now Polaris Bank) as the pioneer Head of Corporate Affairs.

The British Council appointed him as Head of Communication and Marketing to co-ordinate branding and reputation management activities at its Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt offices.

In 2007, he was recruited as the Head of Corporate Planning and Strategy for the Nigerian Aviation Handling company. He led on the branding, strategic planning and stakeholder management support function.

His job was later expanded and redesigned as Head of Corporate Communication and Business Development with the mandate to continue to execute the Board’s vision in the areas of Corporate Planning and Strategy, Branding and New Businesses.

In 2010, he voluntarily resigned from nacho aviance to focus on managing BrandStewards, a reputation and brand management firm he established in 2003. BrandStewards has successfully executed branding, re-branding and marketing communication projects for clients in the private and public sectors.

Ademola obtained a M.Sc. Degree in Digital Marketing & Web Analytics from Dublin Institute of Technology in 2016, and the Master of Communication Arts degree of the University of Ibadan in 1997. He had previously obtained a Higher National Diploma (with Upper Credit) in Mass Communication from Ogun State Polytechnic, Abeokuta.

He has published several articles and authored five management books.

He has benefitted from several domestic and international training programmes on Brand Management, Corporate Communications, Change Management and Organizational Strategy.
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