Hearing resumed today at the Rivers State Governorship Election Tribunal sitting in Abuja, as the petitioners continued the presentation of witnesses to support their case.

Hearing resumed today at the Rivers State Governorship Election Tribunal sitting in Abuja, as the petitioners continued the presentation of witnesses to support their case. Our Abuja correspondent JAMES IGAH reports that the Director in charge of Information Communications Technology and Database Management at the Rivers State office of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was subpoenaed before the tribunal today. However; a Deputy Director in the person of ABIMBOLA OLAGUNJOYE made appearance on behalf of the Director of ICT and Database Management to explain the use of smart card readers in the governorship election. The INEC Deputy Director, who was invited by the Tribunal at the instance of the petitioners, presented before the court a full report detailing the number of accredited voters in the state, which was admitted in evidence. ABIMBOLA OLAGUNJOYE revealed that the total number of accredited voters for the governorship election in Rivers State on 11th of April as contained in INEC database stood at two hundred and ninety-three thousand, and seventy-two. Reacting to the development; counsel to the petitioners AKIN OLUJIMI who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, explained that the INEC official was brought in as an expert because of the importance of accreditation in an election. In his response; counsel to the PDP, CHRIS UCHE who is also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said the figure provided by the INEC official cannot be said to be the entirety of the accredited voters. Also; a Mobile police officer identified as TAFA MICHAEL was also brought in through a subpoena, and he told the court that there were irregularities during the elections in Rivers State, particularly in Tai Local Government Area. MICHAEL said he led a squadron of mobile policemen to arrest over seventy persons with illegally thumb-printed ballot papers, including security operatives. Our correspondent reports that the APC and its governorship candidate, DAKUKU PETERSIDE, who are the petitioners in the case, have so far called in forty-nine witnesses and are expected to close their case by tomorrow.