A forensic documents examiner, Chief Reginald Udunze Monday admitted he never saw the original copy of the 1981 and 1983 WAEC certificates of Pastor Umo Eno, the state PDP governorship candidate in the 2023 election.
He was testifying at the Federal High Court in Uyo during the ongoing trial of alleged forgery of WAEC certificates against Eno by Okon.
Chief Udunze, a retired Senior Police Officer and handwriting analysis expert, was giving evidence as a witness in the suit filed by a PDP governorship aspirant, Mr. Akan Okon challenging the 1981 and 1983 WAEC certificates of Pastor Eno.
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He told the Court that he was contracted by Mr. Akan Okon, a former Commissioner for Economic Development to compare the WAEC certificates of Pastor Umo Eno and that of one Usanga Okon, as well as carry out forensic analysis on the two documents and the passports photographs of the defendant.
The witness who was led in evidence by the lead Counsel to the Plaintiff, Okey Amaechi, SAN, said he never saw the original copies of the two certificates, as he solely relied on the photocopies sent to him by the plaintiff.
On whether he knew the Chairman and the Registrar of West African Examination Council as of 1981 and 1983 to enable him ascertain the authenticity of their signatures on the WAEC certificates, Chief Udunze said he “cannot remember” their names.
The witness, who was crossed examined by the lead Defense Counsel and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Paul Usoro, also said he was not aware that the matter was already in the Court.
Chief Udunze who retired from the Nigeria Police, 12th December, 2016, after 35 years of service, adopted his sworn-in testimony and the Court admitted it as evidence-in-chief, with no objection from the Defense Counsel.
During cross examination by Paul Usoro, SAN, counsel for the 1st and 2nd Defendants, Udunze admitted retiring as a police officer in 2016 after 35 years but claimed that he established and managed his firm Apex Forensic Science Nigeria LTD since 2011 with his children as directors and action which drew hisses across the courtroom.
However the counsel to the Plaintiff, Okey Amaechi, SAN objected the observation that the witness ran a private firm while still in tactics service, prompting the counsel to the defendants, Paul Usoro, SAN, to explain that the integrity of a witness matters in any case.
“I don’t know how the police will take it if they realize that you established and ran a business when you were yet to retire,” Paul Usoro quipped.
On the certificate Marked A1, he was asked if he knew the gentleman named Usanga Okon on the certificate which he used to conduct a comparative analysis of the defendant’s result, he stated that he had never met such a person or knew of his existence.
Witness whose attention was drawn to Page 9 of Exhibit P3 which he tendered admitted he did not see any name or school on the sample certificate.
On the signatures of the WAEC officials he disputed, the Plaintiff’s Witness admitted he could not remember their names and later admitted he did not know who was the Chairman of WAEC in 1981 or Registrar of WAEC in 1981.
He later admitted he had never met them before, after being warned sternly by the court to avoid evading questions and raising his voice in anger.
“If you try to evade questions or assume that a document can speak for itself, then we will just discard them as mere baseless papers,” the court warned.
The witness also told the court that having received the notice for the forensic examination of the credentials on August 25, 2022, he completed the analyses and submitted his result on August 29, 2022. This prompted the counsel to the 1st and 2nd defendants to prompt him that the plaintiff only contacted him for forensic analysis of the documents long after the case had been instituted in court.
“This means that your forensic result was not the reason for the institution of this case”’ Paul Usoro told the forensic witness.
Another witness that was also heard during the Monday proceedings was the plaintiff, Mr. Akan Okon who adopted his sworn in testimony and tendered his clearance certificate from PDP to contest the May 2022 governorship primary of the party, in which he scored two votes.
He also tendered the photocopies 1981 and 1983 WAEC certificates of Pastor Umo Eno and in the process, the Defense Counsel argued that it was better that the plaintiff tender the original copies of the certificates than the Court to admit the photocopies.
Straightnews reports that the Court presided over by Justice Agatha Okeke has adjourned the case to Tuesday for continuation of hearing.
