The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Yakubu Mahmood, is expected to appear at the Presidential Election Petition Court sitting in Abuja on Thursday, June 15, 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.
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 his intention to bring Mahmood before the court on Thursday so that the respondents especially Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) would not be caught unaware.
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 screenshots 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 on 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.
Under cross-examined by Akin Olujimi SAN, counsel for Tinubu, the witness said he came to the conclusion that the presidential election was a sham by reason of corrupt electoral practices as related to him by PDP agents.
