The National Population Commission (NPC) has urged the Census Tribunal to dismiss the submission of Dutsi Local Government Council of Katsina State over its disputed census figure as it lacked merit.
Uyioghosa Egbon, counsel to the commission, made the appeal on Thursday at the adoption of written addresses of the council, and the respondent, at the Census Tribunal `A? in Abuja.
Earlier, the complainant?s counsel, Hassan Yusuf, had urged the tribunal to dismiss the certified document tendered by the respondent in evidence, adding that the original copies should have been tendered.
He also submitted that the documents tendered by the respondent were not tendered by the right person, and said that the signatory to the documents or its maker ought to have done the presentation.
In his submission, Egbon said that admissibility of any document by the tribunal did not necessitate its originator to tender it, and “once a certified copy of a document is tendered and admitted it is presumed to be genuine”.
“As a public document, a certified true copy or document ought to be tendered from the bar,?? he argued.
Egbon said that what mattered in any document tendered before the tribunal was to ascertain if they were certified or not.
According to him, in tendering a document it does not require originals in evidence, and being a public document a certified copy sufficed.
“I urged the court to dismiss the address for lack of merit,?? he said.
The Tribunal Chairman, Abraham Yisa, however, adjourned the case to May 30 for judgment.
