Nigeria: Use of forensic experts at election tribunals
March 3rd, 2008 | Published in Democracy, Governance, elections
A precedence is quietly being established in the Nigerian courts: the use of forensic experts; thanks to the election tribunals.
The Ondo state election tribunal gave the plantiff the go-ahead to present evidence from a finger-print expert from the UK.
The news media reports, “with the tribunal ruling, Mimiko [Labour Party gubernatorial candidate in Ondo State] can now bring a renowned Fingerprint expert, Adrian Forty, to give expert evidence on the used materials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during April 14, 2007 governorship election, which had already been scanned by the party.”
Big deal?
Yes!
On April; 2007, I’d wondered “how the fingerprint information and other data collected during the voters registration will help in investigating the zillion cases of electoral fraud it now has pending.” This was shortly after the blotched state elections.
Somehow, it appears the Mimiko camp has found ways to make use of those fingerprint data - by scanning the ballot papers comparing them to the electronic database, or/and doing gross examination of the thumb-printed ballot papers for fraud. The grape vine has it that some of the ballot papers have all sorts of ‘unusual prints’.
Whatever methods is used, this is a clear demonstration that some of the parties contesting the 2007 elections are making use of modern technology to make their cases. It was reported earlier this year that Osun state AC candidate, Aregbesola, employed the use of fingerprint forensics in his case too.
I wonder if the legal teams that represented Atiku and Buhari even thought of using forensic experts. I bet they didn’t.
