TheCable

Emmanuel Adesola and Enoch Adigun, two witnesses in the ongoing trial of Ademola Adeleke, governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun state, say they did not see the senator in the examination hall.

The witnesses, who invigilated the National Examination Council (NECO) examination at Ojo-Aro Community Grammar School, Osun in 2017, disclosed this during the senator’s trial over alleged examination malpractice at the federal high court in Abuja on Wednesday.

They were led in evidence by Simon Lough, a prosecutor.

An Abuja high court had on Tuesday ruled that Adeleke was not qualified to contest the September 2018 election on the basis that he did not possess a school leaving certificate.

Adesola told the court that he had been supervising NECO for the past five years.

The witness said he would have recognised Adeleke, who is a public figure, if he was in the examination hall, adding that there were four elderly students in the hall.

“I could not identify any student without the school album since it was my first time there. So, the principal and the registrar helped me to identify them as I used the list I had to call the students into the hall,” Adesola said.

“I didn’t see any of the defendants in the examination hall. Senator Adeleke was not in the examination hall. He is a public figure, so, I would have recognised him.”

Adigun, the second witness, said he saw Sikiru Adeleke, the second defendant, but did not see the senator in the examination hall while he was invigilating.

“I was surprised to see him (Sikiru Adeleke) because he was the most mature student in the hall. But when I checked and saw that he had an identity card duly stamped by the school, I had to allow him to write the examination,” Adigun said.

Inyang Ekwo, the judge, has adjourned the case till June 10 and 11 for further hearing.

The federal government had first arraigned the senator representing Osun west, alongside Sikiru, his brother, over examination malpractice in September 2018.

However, the PDP candidate pleaded innocent to the charges and was granted bail on self-recognisance.