he Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Wednesday resumed the trial on examination malpractice involving Senator Ademola Adeleke, governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), with supervisors of the National Examination Council (NECO) denying seeing the lawmaker at the examination centre.
In October 2018, the Nigeria Police Force arraigned Adeleke over allegations of examination malpractice.
Adeleke was arraigned alongside four others for allegedly registering as students of Ojo-Aro Community Grammar School in Osun State to sit for the 2017 NECO O’ Level examination.
Others accused are Aregbesola Mufutau, the school principal; Gbadamosi Ojo, the school registrar; Dare Olutope, a teacher; and Sikiru Adeleke, the senator’s cousin.
At the resumed hearing on Wednesday, Emmanuel Adesola and Enoch Adigun, the NECO officials who invigilated the said examination, said they did not see the senator in the examination hall.
According to Adesola, he would have recognised the lawmaker, since he is a public figure. He, however, noted that there were four elderly students in the hall and Adeleke wasn’t one of them.
“I could not identify any student without the school album, since it was my first time there. So, the principal and the registrar helped me to identify them as I used the list I had to call the students into the hall. I didn’t see any of the defendants in the examination hall. Senator Adeleke was not in the examination hall. He is a public figure, so, I would have recognised him,” Adesola said.
Meanwhile, Adigun, the second supervisor, the second witness, said he saw Adeleke’s cousin, Sikiru, but affirmed that he did not see the senator in the examination hall.
“I was surprised to see him (Sikiru Adeleke) because he was the most mature student in the hall, but when I checked and saw that he had an identity card duly stamped by the school, I had to allow him to write the examination,” Adigun said.
Judge Inyang Ekwo adjourned the case till June 10 and 11 for further hearing.