THE PDP and Atiku/Obi shocked INEC and other Respondents in court today as the Party and its Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, presented 48 video evidences to the Tribunal to showcase the numerous fraud perpetrated by INEC and the APC in the Presidential Election, especially the banal denial by INEC that the Commission does not have a central server as proposed before the General Elections.

The Party also presented witnesses from Borno, Yobe and others.

Chris Uche, who led the legal team for the PDP and Atiku/Obi called about 4 witnesses. They are:

1. Babagana Kukawa – Borno
2. Hon. Abba Kako – Borno
3. Suleiman Mohammed Bulama – Yobe and
4. Segun Showunmi Babagana Kukawa, from Kukawa LGA of Borno state told the court that in Kukawa, his Local Government Area, INEC and APC agents merely allocated votes to various political parties.

When asked if he voted himself by the APC counsel, Akintola, the witness informed the court that, when he went to his polling unit, the INEC Officer only presented a ballot paper to him to vote without accreditation.

Another witness, Abba Kako, from Chibok Local Government Area of Borno state informed the court that, there was widespread issues of over voting, improper accreditation, inaccurate ballot paper account, unlawful cancellation of votes by INEC, especially in areas presumed to be PDP and Atiku/Obi’s strongholds.

He described the election as a show of illegality, saying that in the 95 polling units in Chibok, he observed 80% of them and there was outright evidence of malpractices by INEC officers in cohorts with APC agents.

Mohammed Bulama from Yobe State also reported that APC agents in the 9 polling units under his ward were seen harassing and intimidating voters on Election Day.

He said that APC agents were stationed at every polling booths and whenever a voter approaches the booth, the voter will be forced to hand over his or her ballot paper/s to the APC agent who will in turn thump print the ballot papers in favour of the APC Presidential Candidate, Muhammadu Buhari and other APC candidates in the elections.

He informed the court that the APC agents also gave money to voters during the elections and the security agents did nothing to stop them

The Shocking Part

Finally, the PDP and Atiku/Obi called Segun Showunmi, the media adviser to the PDP’s Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

During his testimony, the party presented to the court 48 copies of video tapes in evidence and a certificate of compliance for all the video tapes.

The documents were promptly rejected by all the respondents.

INEC counsel Usman, described it as an “ambushment”, saying that the documents were in violation of paragraph 4(6)(c) of the first schedule of the electoral act 2010 (As Amended).

President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC counsel aligned themselves with the position of the INEC.

However, Chris Uche, one of the counsels to the PDP and Atiku/Obi cited paragraph 27 of the pre hearing reports, where all the counsel agreed to present their objections during the final addresses at the end of the trial.

Uche also cited paragraph 4(5)(I)(c) of the first schedule of the electoral act 2010 (as amended), saying that the petitioners are at liberty to either list or front-load evidences before presenting same during cross examination.

He concluded that the PDP and Atiku/Obi has listed the presentation of video tapes in page 43, items number 38, 40 and 44 in the main petition submitted to the court. He also cited section 258(1) of the evidence act 2011, which has expanded the ratio of evidence in court to include presentation of video recordings.

After much deliberations, the court ruled that the PDP and Atiku/Obi has powers to present the video evidences. The 48 video clips were then admitted in evidence along with the certificate of compliance.

Presentation of Video Clips

A total of 4 video clips were today played in the court room.

1. The first video is a clip showing INEC media officer apologizing to Nigerians for the abrupt postponement of the February 16, 2019 Presidential and National Assembly Elections, to February 23, 2019, citing logistic problems. Meanwhile, he also admitted that all the sensitive materials for the elections were deployed before the postponement.
2. The second video is a clip of Mike Igini, the Akwa Ibom State INEC REC who told Nigerians before the Elections that the results of the 2019 Presidential Election will be transmitted live to the INEC central server.
3. The third clip is a press conference from NTA, in which the then Army information officer was telling the world that the Army has no educational records of President Muhammadu Buhari, and
4. The fourth video clip is a press conference by the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, saying that the commission will transmit the results of the 2019 Presidential Election to the INEC Server.

During cross examination, the counsel to President Muhammadu Buhari, requested the court to allow him play a clip of the INEC chairman on the 6th of February, 2019, in which the chairman explained against the possibility of transmitting results to the server.

His request was granted but the court adjourned to Tuesday, July 16, 2019, in order for him to play the video tape to the court.

BE

– July 16, 2019 @ 08:05 GMT |