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*But Afari-Gyan & Quarshie- Idun Allow Safe Passage Electoral Commission Chairman (EC), Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, might be passing as a very charitable witness for Nana Addo-Akufo and the two others, who are at the Supreme Court seeking to overturn the presidential victory, declared for John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). Yesterday in court, there was an exhibit in the possession of Philip Addison, lawyer for the petitioners, which was suspected to have been stolen from the Adabraka headquarters of the EC in Accra. Sometime, prior to the filing of the petitioners� case at the Supreme Court, came reports of a burglary at the offices of the EC, leading to the loss of vital data, from the custodians of the all electoral materials. According to insiders, the theft was investigated on the quiet to avoid unnecessary tension which would have characterized media reports of the stolen materials at the EC, particularly, when the institution is facing claims from the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) that it had manipulated the election in favour of President Mahama. The EC, this paper gathered particularly, decided not to go public on the issue, because there were backups already created. But yesterday in open court, Dr. Afari-Gyan, at the sight of a document wondered how Mr. Philip Addison, got the document and suggested it was a closely guarded document which should not have been found in the hands of Nana Addo�s lawyer, insisting the material was a property of the EC. However, Lawyer Addison remarked it matters not where the materials came from and that he (Addison) might have stolen it from the EC. It is unclear, why Dr. Afari-Gyan, did not tell the Supreme Court how the documents might have gotten out of his office and found its way in the hands of Philip Addison, who appears is out to ridicule the EC boss. There are also claims that some officials of the EC are stealing and feeding the NPP with very vital documents, which Nana Addo�s Lawyers are using against Dr. Afari-Gyan. Clearly missing from Mr. Addison�s cross-examination, was the issue of constitutional violations, statutory infringement, irregularities, acts omission and commission, which formed the basis of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia�s claims during his evidence in Chief. Mr. Addison, has said the controversy surrounding the number of pink sheets could have been resolved without resorting to a court order, instructing KPMG to count the exhibit. That, count by KPMG, he said was unnecessary. He made this remark during cross-examination of Dr. Afari-Gyan, witness for the EC. It began after Addison had attempted to ask questions on certain exhibits given to Dr. Afari-Gyan. But Quarshie- Idun, the E.C�s counsel said, the exhibits being served on them presently had a different exhibit number which cannot be located. It was different in the numbering of polling station code and the naming of the stations, he said, and provided an example of this in court. Quarshie- Idun said on this basis �they would resist any attempt� to serve these exhibits on Dr. Afari-Gyan. This latest objection triggered a divisive debate on the issue of the count of the pink sheets. Tsatsu Tsikata, counsel for the NDC got involved in the issue. He said the problem encountered by Addison and Quarshie-Idun could only be resolved by KPMG -the referee�s � work. Tsatsu noted this work would show whether they were served with 11,842 pink sheets as claimed by the Petitioners. He described the Petitioners� exhibit as a �jumble of paper�heaped together�. It would be improper for Addison�s cross-examination to pull up new exhibits that was not reflected in what the Respondents have, Tsatsu concluded. Counsel for president Mahama, Tony Lithur said, it was unfortunate the exhibits did not have the Registry�s official stamps. It would have helped to know if a pink sheet was being newly introduced. For now, what the Petitioners were seeking to bring in, was fresh pink sheets because the �topsy-turvy� exhibits are completely different, he said. But Philip Addison, vented his dissatisfaction at the contention of the three Respondents. He asserted every pink sheet the Petitioners were relying on had been filed and was in evidence. He revealed that on the contrary, a pink sheet used by Tsatsu during his cross-examination of Dr.Bawumia was not captured by the KPMG report. This, he said, showed the Respondent�s exhibit was rather foreign and fresh. He said wrongly-labelled exhibits were nonetheless in evidence and could be therefore used in their case. These mistakes have been rectified by the electronic procedure after they realized them in the manual process. �We accept there is mislabelling but not one of these documents is not in evidence, its been filed�, Addison charged. A judge asked Addison if the petitioners served the Respondents with all the exhibits in contention. But Addison said, he would not know. What he knows for a fact is that they filed their exhibits at the Registry and the Registry had the duty to serve the filed documents on the Respondents. He said KPMG�s work was not to find out whether the exhibits were served but the actual number that was filed. According to Addison, this issue need not escalate to its present prominence. The Respondents should have asked the Registrar to supply them with pink sheets they claim was missing as it is done in any trial. �This issue that they have raised to a certain [level]; bringing in KPMG was in the first place unnecessary, all they had to do is to indicate what they are missing, that is all�I have said this from day 1, here we are back to square one�, he lamented The controversy on the pink sheets currently before the court brought proceedings to a pre-mature adjournment. Dr. Afari-Gyan, rebuffed suggestions by Addison, that pink sheets with fabricated results can be smuggled into the overall results at the collation centers. The sheets also would not have serial numbers recognized, as a security feature. �Not every number is a serial number�, he revealed. At the hearing, Philip Addison said pink sheets with duplicate serial numbers created room for results to be manufactured on voting day and later factored into the results of the collation center. Addison said most of the constitutional violations and irregularities occurred were places where there was the use of duplicate serial numbers. �Isn�t it possible that if one gets hold of a duplicate pink sheet he can swap the figures on the original pink sheet?�, Addison queried. �Absolutely not�, Dr.Afari-Gyan asserted. He said every pink sheet results would have to bear the signature of every polling agent and a presiding officer. He would also not consider the �possibility� of this happening. Election administration, he said, dealt with �what actually happens� and not possibilities, the E.C Boss noted.