Osun Tribunal Insists On CTCs Of Documents From The Bar

The Osun Governorship Election Petition Tribunal yesterday ruled that only Certified True Copies (CTCs) of electoral documents could be tendered from the bar.
This follows an attempt by counsel to a petitioner to tender duplicate copies of electoral documents from the bar.
Senator Iyiola Omisore and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are challenging the declaration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola as the winner of the August 9, 2014 governorship election in Osun State.
Dr Alex Izinyon (SAN), leading counsel to the petitioner, had sought to begin tendering of documents with the expectation that he would be calling witnesses for oral testimonies before the tribunal.
He hinged this application on the need to save time, arguing that objections to admissibility of duplicate copies could be taken at a later stage of the hearing. He added that there were a plethora of authorities to back his position.
Chief Akin Olujinmi (SAN), Aregbesola’s counsel, immediately raised objection to Izinyon’s application, wondering why his colleague was trying to take a step that is unknown to Nigerian law.
Justice Ikpejime delivered the ruling of the tribunal, ordering that CTCs of documents be tendered from the bar while duplicate copies of documents should be tendered through the witness box as contained in the report of the pre-trial session