A mild drama ensued, yesterday, at the resumed hearing of the Rivers State LG Election Petitions Tribunal on a matter involving the Chairman of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area, Hon Vincent Job of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and Mr Bright Abali, chairmanship candidate of the ADC, as the chairman allegedly disowned his middle name ‘Nwaobakata’.
Job appeared before the three-man tribunal led by Chief Magistrate Rita Ogugwo, for the second time after he was docked at the witness box for cross-examination following his evidence-in-chief, last Monday, in Port Harcourt.
Abali of the ADC, who contested in the last April 17 Local Government Elections in ONELGA had dragged the ONELGA council boss, Hon Vincent ‘Nwaobakata’ Job, who was the PDP chairmanship candidate during the election to the tribunal, praying the tribunal, among other things, to sack the chairman because of alleged irregularities in his name and credentials submitted for the election.
He said that Mr Vincent ‘Nwaobakata’ Job, was not the same person as Mr Vincent Job as well.
During cross examination, last Monday, Abali told the tribunal that Vincent ‘Nwaobakata’ Job was not eligible to contest the election, because of disparity in his documents, adding that he was not a registered voter.
However, when the matter resumed, yesterday, under cross examination by the petitioner’s Counsel, Hon Vincent Job told the court that the name, ‘Nwobakata’, was his middle name but added that he does not make use or bear it.
But he accepted that over time, he had sworn affidavit of Change of Name but could not exactly say the time and where the copy of the affidavit was at the moment.
“My name is Vincent Job, and I do not bear the name ‘Nwaobakata’ in any of my dealings, even though it is my middle name. I am a very clever person, and I have not missed or lost any of my documents”, the ONELGA boss submitted.
When asked by the petitioner’s counsel to tell the tribunal where the affidavit was, the year and the office he submitted it to, he replied, “I don’t know, I can’t remember again”.
The petitioner’s counsel had moved an application for a short adjournment on the matter to mandate the respondent to go back home and bring the affidavit to the court.
He added that the affidavit would prove that the ONELGA boss used the name under contest even from his primary school days.
He further applied to the court to tender certificate award given to him recently, which bears the name, ‘Nwaobakata’, saying that he was relying on points of law with regard to Evidence Act, Section 4.
Responding to the application, counsel to the respondents, opposed the application because the alleged certificate which the petitioner’s counsel wanted to tender was computer print-out, and not a certified true copy.
He added that the application was a negation to the provisions of Section 84, and 83, Sub-Section 3 of the Evidence Act, and urged the tribunal to jettison the application.
In her ruling, the Chairman of the three-man panel, Chief Magistrate Rita Ogugwo dismissed the application on the grounds that the alleged certificate being relied upon by the petitioner’s counsel was presented to the chairman after he had been sworn in as council chairman as well as during the pendency of the matter before the tribunal.
She later adjourned the matter to today for continuation.

By: Amadi Akujobi