OSHIOMHOLE'S STAR WITNESS, PROFESSOR PHILLIP ENAHORO AGBEBAKU'S CREDIBILITY IN QUESTION AT EDO STATE ELECTION PETITION TRIBUNAL.

Eddy Ogunbor.
Tuesday 11, December 2012. Benin City, Nigeria.
At the Edo State Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Benin City in the Governorship Election  petition between General Charles Ehigie Airhiavbere and Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, ACN and three others, Counsel to 2nd Respondent (ACN), Adetunji Oyeyipo(SAN), leading Ken Mozia (SAN) and others, called to the witness box Professor Phillip Enahoro Agbebaku, a Political Science lecturer at Ambrose Ali University (AAU) Ekpoma.
The witness had made deposition that he attended the same secondary modern school(Blessed Martins Modern School, Jattu) with Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and that they were class mates in the same school from the year 1963 to 1965. He claimed also that at the time they both attended the school, Oshiomhole's names were Adams Aliu, while his (Agbebaku) names were Phillip Sunday Agbebaku. He further claimed that, at a later date, on completion of secondary modern school education, he proceeded to a secondary school spending additional five years to acquire the secondary school certificate.
Asked to identify his class mate in the secondary modern school, he pointed to and identified Comrade Adams Oshiomhole who was present in court and who sat directly opposite him.
Professor Agbebaku claimed that he is an examiner at Benson Idahosa University, Benin City and NIPSS, Kuru amongst other higher institutions. Therefore, he was in a position to establish that the additional qualifications/certificates produced and submitted to INEC by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole for election purposes, were authentic and higher than the secondary school certificates.
He however added that the Petitioner was not competent to ascertain the authenticity of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole's certificates. Rather, the Ministry of Education, Dept of Evaluation is the appropriate authority to authenticate certificates.
Counsel to the Petitioner, Chief Efe Akpofure (SAN) in cross examining Professor Agbebaku demanded to know if his further education certificates now have the name "Sunday" written on them. Agbebaku responded in the negative and that the certificates now bear Phillip Enahoro Agbebaku. Chief Akpofure demanded to know if he followed the official legal process of swearing to an affidavit to the change of his name(s).Professor Agbabaku responded in the affirmative.
Chief Akpofure further made reference to Prof. Agbebaku's statement in the witness box in which he told the Tribunal Judges that the Department of Evaluation in the Min. of Education is the authentic body to certify certificates etc and therefore the assertion by him that Comrade Adams Oshiomhole's certificates were higher in content and quality than the secondary school certificate was a personal opinion, as he is not from the Evaluation Dept. of the Ministry of Education. Prof. Agbebaku agreed with Chief Akpofure. Chief Akpofure demanded that Agbebaku should produce and show to the Tribunal Judges his primary school leaving certifcate, secondary modern school certificate and official letter from NIPSS appointing him as an examiner to NIPSS. These he could not produce with the excuse that he was not put on notice by the Petitoner's Counsel to provide same. Chief Akpofure reminded Prof. Agbebaku that he (Agbebaku) made his deposition in August 2012 and had enough notice, information and knowledge as to what was required from him to produce at the Tribunal.
 Prof. Agbebaku admitted that he is not a card carrying member of the ACN but a lecturer at Ambrose Ali University Ekpoma. Chief Akpofure pointed out to him (Agbebaku) that he was only a "busy body" who was meddling as a witness instead of minding and attending to lecturing his students at the University. He was also reminded that he decided to stand as witness for personal reasons to secure the confirmation of appointment of his wife as the Vice Chancellor of Ambrose Ali University and to also secure his own appointment in the same University. Chief Akpofure thereafter had no further question for the witness having established that the credibility of the witness was in doubt and his evidence as witness and deposition before the Tribunal were not to be relied on.
Counsel to 2nd Respondent (ACN) in a suprised move decline to call to the witness box any further witness, though he had informed the Tribunal that he will call two witnesses for today's proceedings and decided to close his submission on the first day, calling only one witness. In the same vein, counsel to 3rd to 5th Respondents (INEC, REC and Election Returning Officer) informed the Tribunal Judges that he had no witness to call nor any submission to make before the Tribunal and therefore closed the submission of the 3rd to 5th Respondents.
The Tribunal Judges thereafter adjourned to 10th of January 2013 for Counsels to begin their addresses before the Tribunal.