Abia election tribunal: Spoilation and quest for justice

 ON Sunday, August 2, it was reported that the office
of the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia
state was razed down by unknown elements. It does
appear the new mantra of the ruling-Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) is “If at first you don’t
succeed, destroy all evidence and blame it on your
opponent
 That members of the PDP would attribute the fire to
the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and its
governorship candidate in the April general elections,
Dr. Alex Otti, was the most irresponsible and
ludicrous accusation I have ever heard. As usual
nothing they did in the past and have continued to do
in order to hold on to power surprises me anymore.
These are the same people who accused Otti of
sewing military uniforms for a couple of men during
the campaigns. They later sent armed men, who
invaded his residence at Umuru-Nvosi in Isialangwa
South Local Government Area of the state
supposedly to kill him. The same people whose thugs
tore up Otti’s billboards, attacked his campaign
events in Ikwuano and Ntigha in Isialangwa North
Local Government Areas.
Again after the elections and some unscrupulous
officials of INEC in the state were arrested by
security agents at the INEC headquarters in Umuahia
with Card Readers and other electoral materials, PDP
shamelessly once again said the suspects were
working for Otti and APGA, in spite of overwhelming
evidence to the contrary.
Just recently after an unsuccessful assassination
attempt was made on Otti in Abuja, Gov. Okezie
Ikpeazu and his band of media liars characteristically
jumped on the matter, accusing Otti of making up
the story so as to generate public sympathy even
after the police authorities had confirmed the
incident.
This is why their recent accusation about the fire at
INEC did not come as a surprise to me. I simply ask,
what else is new?
I think this time they have finally outdone
themselves. This time they have actually shot
themselves in the foot. Having failed in all their
previous efforts to derail the tribunal, the most
recent being their failure to get Otti’s petition
dismissed, they finally decided to destroy the
evidence that was supposed to be brought to the
tribunal for forensic examination by Otti’s team.
Let us not forget that both the PDP and INEC
previously conspired to refuse Alex Otti’s legal team
access to those materials, in spite of the tribunal’s
order. So far they have got away with almost
everything they have done. But let us see if they can
get away with this one.
I am not a lawyer but I know that there is in law, the
‘’Theory of spoliation”. In a layman’s language, the
theory says that ‘’when a party destroys evidence, it
may be reasonable to infer that the party had
“consciousness of guilt” or motivation to avoid the
evidence.’’ Therefore, the fact finder or in this case
the tribunal judge may conclude that the evidence
would have been unfavourable to the spoliator and as
a consequence may impose a fine, or dismiss the
case against the guilty party, while rendering
judgment in favour of the opposing litigant.