Tinubu, APC, INEC oppose admitting Atiku’s documents into evidence

On Wednesday, President Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) raised objections to the admission of certain documents that were intended to be tendered in evidence by Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, the presidential candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

At the resumption of the hearing of the petition filed by Atiku and the PDP challenging the election of President Tinubu at the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja, the counsel for the petitioners, Mr. Chris Uche, SAN, stated that the team had prepared a second schedule of documents to be tendered. The petition is challenging the election of President Tinubu.

Some of the documents that the petitioners submitted as evidence were certified true copies of Form EC8A that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had downloaded from its Result Viewing Portal (IREV). These copies were submitted by the petitioners through Mr. Eyitayo Jegede, SAN.

The Form EC8A was completed for eight local government areas in Bayelsa, 23 local government areas in Kaduna State, 20 local government areas in Ogun State, and 23 local government areas in Kogi State.

According to the Nigerian News Agency (NAN), the Form EC8As are sheets that are used for the collection of results at the level of the polling units.

In addition, the petitioners submitted Form EC40G for the state of Kaduna.

On Form EC40G, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) records the total number of cancelled polling units and voters who were unable to cast their ballots.

In addition, the true certified copies of Forms EC8E were submitted for a total of eight local government areas in the state of Kaduna as well as some local government areas in the state of Kogi.

Read Also: Release Nnamdi Kanu, MASSOB implores Tinubu on Biafra Day

Form EC8E is the final form that needs to be filled out in order to declare the final results.

In addition, the petitioners submitted a print copy of the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) for accreditation data. This print version included details such as time stamps for 33 states.

Jegede submitted a motion to the court requesting that it apply the provisions of paragraph 46(A) of the first schedule of the Electoral Act to deem the documents as having been read.

Counsel for INEC, Mr. Kemi Pinhero, SAN, raised an objection to the admissibility of all documents relating to Kogi, with the exception of those pertaining to five Local Government Areas: Olamaboro, Ofu, Omala, Okehi, and Ajaokuta. Mr. Pinhero’s objection was upheld.

He stated that the reason for this was due to the fact that the five local governments, whose documents he did not object to, were specifically pleaded in the pleadings of the petitioners.

Pinhero also raised an objection regarding the legitimacy of the documents relating to the BVAS, with the exception of the states of Kogi, Rivers, and Sokoto.

The attorney for Tinubu, Mr. R. Okala, SAN, and the attorney for the APC, Mr. Adeniyi Akintola, SAN, both objected to the admissibility of the documents that the PDP and Atiku wanted to have tendered.

However, as was agreed upon during the pre-hearing stage, the attorneys will not be presenting their reasons for objecting to the admission of the documents in evidence until after they have finished delivering their closing statements.

After raising an objection regarding the admissibility of the documents, the solicitors all declined to give their approval for the documents that were submitted to be considered as read.

Read Also: ‘You are not governor of APC’ – IPAC, LP set agenda for Otu in Cross River State

The documents were however allowed to be presented as evidence, and the Chairman of the Court, Justice Haruna Tsammani, appropriately labelled each of the documents.

After that, the hearing on the matter wasn’t going to continue until Thursday, so it was adjourned until then.