Labour Party, LP and its candidate in the February 25, 2023 presidential election, Mr. Peter Obi, on Wednesday, tendered as evidence, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, press statement, where is berated a media report that it had abandoned its real time transmission of election results from the polling units.
Obi and LP are challenging the declaration of President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC, by INEC as winner of the poll.
They are also contending that Tinubu did not win majority of the lawful votes cast and that he was also not qualified ab initio to run for the election on account of money seized from him in the United States of American, in drug related case.
Respondents in the matter are Tinubu, APC, INEC and Kashim Shettima.
Obi’s witness, Chibuike Ugboke, an Expert Witness and Cyber Security Expert tendered the press statement dated dated November 11, 2022, entitled “Alleged plot to abandon online transmission…” signed by Festus Okoye, Commissioner for Voters Education in INEC.
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The document was objected to by counsel to the respondents from being accepted by the court, but the Justice Haruna Tsammani, led Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, sitting in Abuja, admitted the document in evidence notwithstanding.
Also, but 9th witness so far(PW9), Onoja Loko Sunday, a Staff of Women/Child Rescue Initiative, a non-profit organisation, was called up.
He was an election observer, and said that voting and counting went well, form EC8A was duly signed and LP won but results were not uploaded from PU but taken to collation centre.
Another witness, the 10th, Kephas Iya, a civil servant, was called up.
He was an INEC Ad-hoc Staff and non-partisan and a certain Suleiman Mustapha supervised 24 units in Malagali ward in Adamawa State and that results were not transmitted from Polling units.
Other documents were tendered, including list certified by INEC containing the total number of registered voters and PVCs collected; Certified True Copies of Certificate of Compliance in Edo State, CTCs of supplementary iREV documents for Benue State, CTCs of iREV report for three LGAs in Benue State; and CTCs of supplementary iREV documents for two LGAs in Cross Rivers State.
Other were CTCs of iREV reports for 12 LGAs in Lagos State and CTC of iREV report for one LGA in Gombe State.
All were objected to by respondents but admitted by court.
