Three persons who served as ad hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as Presiding Officers for the February 25 general elections have told the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) that only the results of the presidential election failed to upload to IREV.
The three INEC ad hoc staff were subpoenaed by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
Led in evidence by the petitioner’s counsel, Mr Eyitayo Jegede, SAN, the Presiding Officers testified to the court that they were able to use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machine to transmit results for the senatorial and House of Representatives elections with ease.
However, they opened up to the court in their testimonies that they couldn’t use the BVAS to transmit the presidential election results, making them not fully satisfied with the election process.
The three ad hoc staff, Janet Turaki, Christopher Ardo and Victoria Sani, told the court that they were respectfully presiding officers in Yobe, Bauchi and Katsina states.
The witnesses all agreed that other aspects of the election went well until it was time to upload the presidential results, and then the BVAS machines refused to work.
Turaki, under cross-examination by counsel to INEC, Mr Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, testified to the court that the accreditation of voters was successful and voting went on smoothly at her polling unit.
She, however, noted that it was when she wanted to upload the presidential election result after capturing it with the BVAS machine that the network got terrible.
Turaki further said that after failed efforts to upload the presidential election results, she handed over everything to her ward collation agent and filled out the complaint form that INEC had provided for such purposes.
On his part, Ardo testified before the court under cross-examination by counsel to President Bola Tinubu, Mr Wole Olanipekin, SAN, that he felt unfulfilled in his assignment with the electoral body.
Ardo said the feeling was because of his inability to transmit the presidential election result as stipulated in the law.
In her testimony, Sani, under cross-examination by counsel to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Charles Edosanwan, SAN, testified to the court that she believed she performed her duties as a presiding officer to the best of her ability.
The five-member panel led by Justice Haruna Tsammani adjourned proceedings until Tuesday for the continuation of the hearing in the petition.
