Details of bank accounts of the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, in Yobe State in the last general election, Abu Zarma, were Thursday admitted as exhibits by the Yobe State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja, along with proof of lodgements of N15m into the two accounts just days to the April 11Presidential poll.
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its governorship candidate, Adamu Waziri, are challenging the election of the All Progressives Party, APC, candidate, Ibrahim Gaidam, alleging that the winner in the poll had bribed the chief electoral official with N15 million.
The PDP buttressed its case Thursday by providing details of the alleged bribery payment, which were accepted as exhibits by the court.
Sued by the PDP and Waziri in the case are Gaidam, his party, the APC, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Zarma and an Assistant Superintendent of Police, Zakari Deba, the Aide- de-Camp to the governor.
Governor Gaidam’s security aide is alleged to have paid N8m into Zarma’s Diamond Bank account and N7m into his Zenith Bank account on the same day, April 8.
The exhibits were provided the tribunal by officials of Diamond Bank and Zenith Bank who were subpoenaed as witnesses.
All the exhibits tendered and admitted by the tribunal, including account opening forms, account statements, photocopies of tellers used for the lodgements of the funds and bore Zarma’s name.
Counsels to the respondents did not oppose the tendering of the exhibits during Thursday’s proceedings but said they would reserve their objection to some of them till the stage of filing their final written addresses.
The head of operations of the Damaturu Branch of Zenith Bank, Umar Alkali, said Deba deposited N7m into Zarma’s account with the bank on April 8.
Led by the petitioner’s lawyer, Abiodun Owonikoko, Alkali said further that the account now had a balance of N1,345,503.38.
Also giving evidence, a staff of the Damaturu Branch of Diamond Bank, Bamaji Kukawa, said that Deba paid N8m into Zarma’s account with the bank on April 8.
“Before the April 8, 2015 entry the bank account had N28,143.60k,” Kukawa told the court.
According to the witness, on April 13, the sum of N8m was withdrawn from the account in favour of Saleh & Hanif Company