TRIBUNAL: PDP Witnesses Admit Atiku Did Not Score 25% Votes In FCT But Say INEC Ought Not To Declare Tinubu Winner

The People’s Democratic Party on Monday fielded more witnesses before the Presidential Election Petitions Court sitting in Abuja, with two of them admitting that the party’s presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar did not score 25 percent of votes in the Federal Capital Territory.

The petitioners’ witness told the court that if President Bola Tinubu who did not score 25 percent of votes in FCT, as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission, was sworn-in, Atiku ought to be sworn-in having allegedly scored majority of lawful votes cast in the entire election.

Between May 30 when the PEPC commenced hearing to June 3, the PDP presented six state collation agents as witnesses before the court.

They all alleged electoral irregularities in the 2023 presidential election and were subjected to cross-examination by the lawyers representing the Independent National Electoral Commission, president Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima and the All Progressives Congress.

The petitioners have also tendered as evidence, the 2023 Presidential Election Results, INEC Forms EC8A (which is the summary of presidential election results) and Form EC8E series for the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, INEC certified documents in respect of number of PVCs collected for 2023 presidential election and the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System BVAS machine-printed report for the 36 states, including FCT.

Other documents tendered are additional Forms EC8A as downloaded by INEC (for 17 local government of Abia state and INEC authentication certificate), Forms EC8As for Bayelsa, Kaduna, Ogun states, certified true copies of Forms EC8Es from Kaduna and Kogi state.

When the court resumed hearing on Monday, PDP counsel, Eyitayo Jegede SAN announced he has 4 witnesses for today.

The Chairman of PDP in FCT, Mohammed Babaji Madaki, announced himself as the (eight) witness.

INEC, citing the witness’ statement on oath, asked him if it was his opinion that for a candidate to be returned as president, he must also get 25 percent of votes in the FCT?

“No. It is not my opinion,” the witness replied.

“Did your candidate, Atiku score 25 percent of votes in FCT?” INEC’s counsel, A.B. Mahmoud SAN asked to which the witness replied “No, he didn’t.”

Asked if Atiku was entitled to be returned as president having not scored 25 percent of votes in FCT, the witness said no.

Asked to confirm if PDP party agents signed the collated results, he replied “Yes sir.”

APC’s lawyer, Akin Olujimi SAN, asked the witness if his statement was prepared by him.

He said he wrote it and his lawyers went through it before it was deposed to before the court.

Pressed further by the APC lawyer, Lateef Fagbemi SAN on if he thinks FCT is like other states in Nigeria.

The witness agreed in the affirmative.

“What is the meaning of conscientiously which you mentioned in your statement?” Fagbemi asked him.

“I cannot remember, honestly,” the witness said.

Under cross examination by INEC, the ninth witness, FCT State Collation agent, Abraham David, told the court that Atiku scored 15 percent of votes in FCT.

“I agree, even Tinubu did not score 25 percent,” he replied.

The court was thrown into laughter.

He was further asked why then he maintained in his witness statement that Atiku was entitled to be returned as president despite not garnering 25 percent votes from FCT.

The witness said “it is not wrong”, saying if Tinubu who did not score 25 percent in FCT was returned, Atiku is entitled to be returned as president.

Honorable Abiye Sekibo, earlier announced himself as the seventh witness and asked the court to adopt his statement on oath as his evidence in court, testifying that he served as Rivers state collation agent for the PDP presidential election.

INEC’s lawyer, A.B. Mahmoud SAN, asked him if he was a politician, to which he replied that he was actively involved in politics, voted at the election and monitored about 20 polling units in his LGA.

“You couldn’t have been at other polling units at the conclusion of polls?,” Mahmoud asked him.

Responding, Sekibo said, “I was there, when they were counting and unfortunately, they could not upload the results.

“That is a false assumption because various polling units end voting at different times. I also witnessed a few of them.”

He was asked to confirm his statement on oath where he said the agents of Tinubu and APC, by their threats ensured that presiding officers could not upload polling results on election day.

“The Reports I got from our agents is that there was no upload of results across over 6,000 polling units in the state,” Sekino replied.

Akin Olujimi SAN who stood for Tinubu and Shettima asked him if he could mention the names of these agents that issued the threat as well as the presiding officers.

“I don’t have to know their names, by their actions, we should know them.” the witness replied.

Lateef Fagbemi of the APC further asked Sekibo: “You did not mention the actual figure credited to PDP?”

He agreed he did not, saying he was only trying to establish the fictitious figures declared by INEC.

“You signed the results for PDP in Rivers?,” Fagbemi asked again.

“No, I don’t know who signed,” Sekibo replied.

Ibrahim Mohammed Hamza, another Collation Agent for Nasarawa state (ninth witness) said he signed results sheet under duress.

When the result sheet for Nasarawa was presented to him by the registrar, he said the result he signed was not altered and that he sent the original result given to him to his party.

“I can see my signature but the original one I signed, there was not cancellation,” he said.