Presidential election results refused to upload, INEC officers tell PEPC

Three ad hoc staff members of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) who served as Presiding Officers for the Feb. 25 general election told the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) that only the presidential election results were disallowed to upload to IREV.

Alhaji Abubakar Atiku and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) subpoenaed the three presiding officers.

The witnesses, led in evidence by the petitioner’s lawyer, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede, SAN, informed the court that they were able to effectively transmit results for the senatorial and house of Representatives elections using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) equipment.

In their separate testimony, they informed the court that they were unable to utilise the BVAS to send the presidential election results, leaving them dissatisfied with the overall election process.

Janet Turaki, Christopher Ardo, and Victoria Sani, the three witnesses, informed the court that they were presiding officers in Yobe, Bauchi, and Katsina states, respectively.

The witnesses all agreed that everything else about the election went smoothly until it came time to upload the presidential results, at which point the BVAS machines refused to operate.

Under cross-examination by INEC counsel, Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, Turaki informed the court that voter accreditation was successful and voting went smoothly at her polling unit.

She said that the network fell down when she attempted to upload the presidential election results captured using the BVAS equipment.

The witness stated that after failing to effectively upload the presidential election results, she turned everything over to her ward collation agent and filled out the complaint form given by INEC.

She stated that she and the other party agents present signed the outcome on form EC8A before taking it to the ward.

Under cross-examination by counsel to President Bola Tinubu, Mr. Wole Olanipekin, SAN, Ardo stated in court that he felt unfulfilled in his duty with INEC on election day.

He said it was because he was unable to send the presidential election results as required by law.

Under cross-examination by counsel for the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Charles Edosanwan, SAN, Sani stated in her own evidence that she thought she executed her duties as a presiding officer to the best of her abilities.

The five-member panel, chaired by Justice Haruna Tsammani, suspended proceedings until Tuesday to allow the petition’s hearing to continue.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria NAN, Atiku, and the PDP have filed a judicial challenge against the outcome of the presidential election on February 25.

One of the grounds for their suit is that INEC failed to send election results in real-time to its (INEC Result Viewing Portal, (IREV) as the Chairman, Mr. Yakubu Mahmood, had promised before the poll.