Atunwa vs AbdulRazaq: Tribunal Sets Date To Rule On Kwara Guber Poll

The Kwara State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal has set Friday, September 20, 2019, to deliver judgment in the petition filed by Rasak Atunwa, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, challenging the election of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.

Naija News understands that the PDP candidate in the 2019 governorship election is challenging AbdulRazaq’s election at the tribunal on the grounds that the governor presented a forged secondary school certificate and was therefore not qualified to run for the governorship – a claim AbdulRazaq insists is unfounded.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Abdulrazaq, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) are respondents in the case.

At the resumption of hearing on Wednesday, counsel to Atunwa and the respondents spoke to and adopted their final written addresses before the three-man tribunal chaired by Justice Bassey Effiong.

While the PDP candidate called on the tribunal to hold that Abdulrazaq was not qualified to run in the election, Governor Abdulrazaq, on the other hand, said the petitioner failed to prove the allegation of forgery, while the West African Examination Council (WAEC), which the petition had subpoenaed, confirmed to the tribunal that the governor sat its examination in 1976.

The respondents, therefore, called on the tribunal to dismiss the petition.

Though Atunwa listed several witnesses for the case, he only called WAEC to testify.

WAEC in its testimony, however, said Abdulrazaq wrote the exams and had his certificate issued to him as Razaq A.R., the same name he had used for the examination.

Represented by Olorunsola Victor, a senior examination officer, WAEC also told the tribunal that at least 31 other candidates also had their names abbreviated in the same year.

Kabiru Yaro, a classmate of AbdulRazaq at the Kaduna Government College, who testified for the respondent, told the tribunal that the governor sat in front of him during the examination with Serial Number 119.

The tribunal, therefore, has reserved judgment in the case until Friday, September 20.