The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), yesterday admitted in evidence statistics reports of inspectors of the February 25 presidential election tendered by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Atiku Abubakar, against the declaration of All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Tinubu, as the winner of the poll.
The three volumes of binded reports were tendered by Atiku’s forensic examiner and statistician, Samuel Oduntan.
The court, however, adjourned till yesterday to enable the respondents to cross-examine the witness.
The witness, Oduntan, who is the petitioner’s 21st witness (PW21), is a statistician and a subpoenaed witness.
He was led in evidence by counsel to the petitioners, Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), who adopted his statement on oath, even though it was objected by all the respondents.
Abubakar Mahmoud, (SAN) represented INEC, Wole Olanipakun (SAN), Tinubu; and Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), APC.
The respondents’ counsels, however, objected to the tendering of the statistician’s report from the inspection of the election, alongside the three appendages.
Specifically, Olujimi and Fagbemi declined giving their consent to the admissibility of the documents.
They argued that the petitioners never mentioned that the documents would be demonstrated.
Jegede told the court that the evidence in chief of the witness would be taken today while the cross examination would be later.
All the respondents’ counsel confirmed that they all met and agreed on that.
Meanwhile, the five-member panel led by Justice Haruna Tsammani adjourned for cross examination of the witness and further hearing of the petition.
.admits 18,000 blurred results in Obi’s petition
The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) yesterday admitted in evidence the data analysis of the February 25 presidential election results and their accompanying appendices.
It also admitted in evidence, the blurred results from 18,088 polling units from the results viewing portal of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) tendered by the Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate in the February 25 presidential election, Peter Obi.
The LP and Obi are challenging the outcome of the election wherein the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s Bola Tinubu was declared as the elected president by INEC.
During the resumed hearing yesterday, counsel for the petitioners, Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), conducted the proceedings on behalf of the LP and Obi.
At the start of the sitting, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), informed the court that he intended to call to the witness box a professor of Mathematics, Eric Ofoedu, to testify before the court.
The witness was said to have been engaged a few days before the election by the 2nd petitioner, the LP, to carry out an analysis of the data from the February 25 election.
Also admitted in evidence were the letter addressed to Ofoedu seeking his service and the subpoena served on him to appear before the court.
The respondents in the suit namely; the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Tinubu, his vice-president, Kashim Shettima, and the APC, all objected to the admissibility of the documents.
The counsel for the APC, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), objected to the admissibility of the subpoena served on the witness, but gave his consent to the court to admit the letter of engagement.
They all said the reasons for their objections would be advanced at the later stage of the petition.
Led in evidence by Ikpeazu SAN, the professor of mathematics tendered before the court, a report of the data analysis of the election, INEC Results Viewing scores investigation, as well as the separate data analysis of results in Rivers and Benue states.
Not only that, the reports, which were admitted and marked by the court as exhibits PCG1 – PVG3 respectively, the court also admitted in evidence blurred polling units results from IReV in 18,088 polling units across the country.
The witness was not cross-examined by the respondents as the five-man panel of the court headed by Justice Tsammani, in a brief ruling, moved the cross-examination to today, following the objections by the respondents that they were just served the witness statement a few minutes before the sitting.
The petitioners also summoned Arise News Television to appear before the court in aid of their petition against Tinubu.
The witness was led in evidence by counsel to the petitioners, Patrick Ikweato, SAN.
The TV station through a member of staff, Lumnie Edevbie, tendered in evidence a copy of a flash drive which contained a video clip showing INEC’s chairman, Yakubu Mahmoud giving a speech at Chatham’s house, in London on January 17.
In the speech, Mahmoud made a case for the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the IRev as the commission’s biggest archive and repository of the results of the election.
The respondents objected to the admissibility of the clip but the court admitted it and marked it as one of the exhibits in the petition.
At the end of their allotted time, the court adjourned to June 16, the continuation of the hearing in the petition by the LP and Obi.
