A forensic expert subpoenaed to testify in support of Mr Akan Okon in the certificate case against Akwa Ibom PDP Governorship Candidate, Pastor Umo Eno, has admitted before a federal high court in Uyo that he never contacted the West African Examinations Council and only relied on photocopied documents to produce his forensic analyses on the veracity of the documents.
Chief Reginald Udunze who claims to be a Forensic document examiner appearing as a star witness for the plaintiff admitted also that he had no knowledge about those that were WAEC Chairman and Registrar respectively 1981 and never met them to have come across their original signatures.
During cross examination by Paul Usoro, SAN 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.
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 couldn’t remember their names and later admitted he did not know who was the chairman of WAEC in 1981 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 papers.
On his claim that he never knew that there was a case pending in court in respect of the owner of the document he was contracted to examine, he was directed to letters he received from the Plaintiff’s lawyer which specifically mentioned the case as reason for the forensic investigation.
The plaintiff’s star witness admitted that he never contacted WAEC to find out the authenticity of the documents he was examining, adding that it was not necessary.
He also admitted that his company Apex Forensic Science, NIG LTD, was established in 2011 with his children as directors and also that he was Managing Director of the private firm even when he was a serving police officer.
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.
Mr Akan Okon who was later docked introduced himself as an international investment banker.
In his bid to tender the photocopies of Pastor Umo Eno’s credentials in court, Counsel to the 1st and 2nd defendants Paul Usoro,SAN told the court that since he can produce the original documents the next day, it was not necessary for the court to admit the photocopies from Akan Okon.
The court agreed to adjourn till Tuesday for continued cross examination of the petitioner, Mr Akan Okon.