The Independent National Electoral Commission *INEC has openly confessed that it is not yet ready to defend itself against the Petition filed by Nentawe at the governorship* election petition tribunal.
*Lead counsel to INec Atuh SAN, on resumption of sitting this morning,* disclosed that his witnesses are not yet available for him to proceed with the defence.
*Like his colleague Barrister Olajide who stood in for INEC* last Friday when the tribunal ordered all respondents to start their defence today, Atuh SAN said his witnesses have been transferred out of Jos, and therefore needed about seven days to be able to assemble them before the tribunal.
He then humbly applied for seven days to do so.
At that point, lead Counsel to Nentawe Professor Kayode Olatoke SAN, was sarcastic in objecting to the application for the adjournment by INEC.
*In his words, " My Lords, I said it before,* what goes around comes around".
*The statement illicited a lot of laughter from both* the bench and the bar as well as the audience in the court room.
*Counsel to Governor Caleb Mutfwang, Pius Akubo SAN and that of PDP did not object to INEC's application for adjournment.*
*The tribunal the stepped down and went in to a close door session,* with the lead Counsel of the Petitioner and the respondents.
*Competent source revealed that the issues of adjournment and witnesses* to be brought before the tribunal by the respondents were thrashed.
*It was also revealed that INEC hinted that it would bring two witnesses and also close* its defence on that day to be followed by the second and third respondents.
The meeting also agreed that the sitting of the tribunal be adjourned to the 15th of August.
*Before then,* INEC had presented two documents before the tribunal which was objected to by the petitioner's counsel and said his reasons would be contain in his final address.
*The second and third respondents did not object to the tendering of the documents* which were later admitted and marked as exhibits by the tribunal.
*The tribunal was then formally adjourned to the 15th of August for the respondents to present their defences beginning with INEC.*
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