INEC Chairman to Appear at Presiden­tial Election Petition Court Tomorrow

Prof. Yakubu Mahmood

The Chairman of the Inde­pendent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Yakubu Mahmood, is expect­ed to appear at the Presiden­tial Election Petition Court sitting in Abuja tomorrow, to give evidence for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate in the February 25 presidential election, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

Atiku and the PDP are chal­lenging the victory of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as president.

According to Daily Independent, the development followed a subpoena handed to Mahmood by Atiku’s legal team led by Chief Chris Uche (SAN).

Uche announced to the court that the INEC chairman will testify on the conduct of the disputed presidential poll as well as tender some sensi­tive documents in aid of the petitioners.

However, Atiku’s lead counsel did not open up on the nature of documents the INEC boss is expected to give evidence on and tender.

Uche told the PEPC that he decided to announce to the court of his intention to bring Mahmood before the court tomorrow so that the respon­dents especially Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) would not be caught un­awares.

Meanwhile, at Tuesday’s proceedings, Atiku called his first star witness, Dr. Alex Adum Ter, a legal practi­tioner and former Attorney General of Benue State, who in his testimony claimed that the presidential election was highly flawed with monumen­tal irregularities and non-com­pliance with the Electoral Act 2022.

The witness, a National Coordinator, Situation Room for PDP on the February 25, presidential election had ten­dered three different video clips featuring Mahmood, IN­EC’s Commissioner in charge of Voter Education, Mr. Festus Okoye, who in their broadcast assured Nigerians that presi­dential election results would be electronically transmitted to make the election credible and transparent.

The third video involving European Union Election Ob­server Mission was admitted as exhibits by the court alongside Guidelines for Election Officers 2022 and Manual for Election Guidelines 2023.

Though, Tinubu and APC opposed the admissibility of the documents, Chairman of PEPC, Justice Haruna Tsam­mani, admitted them after which the video clips were played in the open court.

The witness also tendered screen shots of the IReV portal.

However, upon cross ex­amination by INEC’s lawyer, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), the witness admitted that he was not at the National Colla­tion Center but was at the PDP situation room in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The witness also admitted not being an ICT expert but that he based his report from information obtained from agents of the PDP at the colla­tion centers.

The witness faulted INEC for not transmitting presiden­tial election results electron­ically, adding that calculation errors led the electoral body into grave errors