Politics

Presidential Poll: Tinubu, APC Kick As Court Admits EU’s Report In Evidence

Published

2 years ago

July 4, 2023

Despite objections by President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress, APC, the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, sitting in Abuja, on Monday, admitted in evidence, the final report of the European Union, EU, Observation Mission, which impugned the outcome of the 2023 general elections.

The report was tendered before the court by candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who alleged that the presidential election that held on February 25, was manipulated to favour President Tinubu and the ruling APC.

In a joint petition he filed alongside his party, Atiku, alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, installed a third-party device that intercepted and allocated votes to Tinubu.

Even though INEC had in its reply to the petition, denied the allegation, however, at the resumed proceedings of the court on Monday, the Deputy Director of ICT at the Commission, Mr. Lawrence Bayode, mounted the witness box to defend the outcome of the presidential poll.

Bayode, in a bid to puncture Atiku’s claim that Tinubu’s running mate was nominated for two elective positions, produced four documentary exhibits, among which included a letter dated July 6, 2022, which the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, wrote to INEC to notify it of his decision to withdraw as candidate of the APC for the Borno Central Senatorial election.

Led in evidence by INEC’s lead counsel, Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, the witness, tendered the letter and its accompanying certification, which was admitted in evidence and marked as Exhibits RA-1 and RA-2.

While being cross-examined by President Tinubu’s lead counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, the witness, maintained that the presidential election was “free, fair, credible and conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act.”

“Recordings on INEC’s Form EC8A (polling unit results) forms basis for any election result and data or internet is required for Form EC8A captured by the BVAS machines to be uploaded,” the witness added.

He told the court that images captured by the BVAS, whether transmitted manually or electronically, would not affect the integrity of an election.

“In practical terms, election is completed at the polling unit level when the officer conducts, announces results and record the result on the Form EC8A,” Bayode told the court. Also answering questions from APC’s lawyer, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, the witness admitted that though the electoral body experienced a technical glitch on the day the presidential poll held, he, however, insisted that it did not affect the actual scores of all the presidential candidates, which he said remained intact.

He further told the court that results of the presidential election was not electronically collated, saying it was done manually.

“INEC does not have an electronic collation system,” he stated, adding that Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu had two days before the presidential poll was held, announced that electronic transmission of results of the election would not be feasible.

Fagbemi, SAN, tendered a copy of Tribune Newspaper of February 23, 2023, where the INEC Chairman was reported to have waved aside the possibility of real-time transmission of results of the presidential election.

Though Atiku’s lawyer, Uche, SAN, opposed the admissibility of the page containing the said news item from the INEC boss, he urged the court to admit the front page of the newspaper with a banner headline that read: “Atiku, a man whose time has come.”

The certified copy of the Newspaper was subsequently admitted in evidence and marked as Exhibit RA-5.

When it was his turn to cross-examine the witness, Atiku’s lawyer, Uche, SAN, asked him to confirm before the court, if the EU Observation Mission was accredited by INEC to monitor the 2023 general elections.

After the witness told the court that the EU team was duly accredited to monitor the elections, he was asked if he was aware that EU released its final report on the 2023 general elections.

The INEC’s witness told the court that though he was aware of that EU recently released a report on the elections, he said he had not seen it.

When he was shown a certified copy of the report and asked to read from a portion of it, both President and the APC, through their respective lawyers, raised objections.

However, notwithstanding the objections, the panel admitted the report in evidence and marked it as Exhibit RA-6.

Following a request by counsel to the Petitioners, the witness, read in the open court, a paragraph in the report, where EU stated that the 2023 election was not “a transparent and inclusive election” as promised by the INEC.

He also read a portion in the report that stated that “only 31% of results uploaded in I-REV was formally or mathematically correct.”

The witness, however, maintained that technological innovations that INEC introduced into the electoral process was to guarantee transparency and integrity of the results.

He admitted that both the National Assembly and the Presidential election were conducted on the same day and with the same BVAS machines.

The witness told the court that it was wrong for the Petitioners to claim that because of system failure, all the results of the presidential election were not electronically transmitted.

“Some of the results were uploaded on the IReV portal on the day of the presidential election, but not all of them.”

“As of March 1 when a winner was declared, not all of the results were uploaded to the IReV portal,” the witness added.

Asked if INEC filed any formal complaint to Amazon Web Services, AWS, over glitches experienced during the presidential election, the witness, said: “We did not need to file a report to Amazon over the technical glitch and we did not need to do that.

“I supervised the configuration of the system that was used for the election.”

Asked if the system INEC deployed for the presidential election, had in-built mechanism for distinguishing between the Presidential and NASS election, the witness answered in the negative.

“There is no human interference. The system is configured in a way that you click a button to upload result of particular election,” he told the court.

Shortly after the witness was discharged from the box, INEC’s lawyer, Mahmoud, SAN, told the court that his client would not call any other witness in the matter.

Consequently, counsel to President Tinubu and Vice-President Shettima, Chief Olanipekun, SAN, announced that his clients would open their own defence on Tuesday.

It will be recalled that Atiku, who came second in the presidential contest, closed his case after he called a total of 27 out of 100 witnesses he scheduled to testify in the matter.

He is among other things, praying the court to withdraw the Certificate of Return that was issued to President Tinubu by INEC.

Atiku and his party contended that President Tinubu “demonstrated inconsistency as to his actual date of birth, secondary schools he attended (Government College Ibadan); his State of origin, gender, actual name; certificates evidencing Universities attended (Chicago State University).”

According to the petitioners, “The 2nd Respondent did not disclose to the 1st Respondent (INEC) his voluntary acquisition of the citizenship of Republic of Guinea with Guinean Passport No. D00001551, in addition to his Nigerian citizenship. The 2nd Respondent is hereby given notice to produce the original copies of his said two passports,” they added.

The petitioners equally challenged Tinubu’s eligibility to contest the presidential election, alleging that he was previously indicted and fined the sum of $460,000.00 by the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, in Case No: 93C 4483, for an offence involving dishonesty and drug trafficking.

All the Respondents had in their replies, urged the court to dismiss the petition which they maintained was bereft of merit.

VANGUARD

Related Topics:#Tinubu APC Court EU Report

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Politics

Twist In Edo PDP Crisis As Faction Elects State Executives

Published

11 hours ago

October 5, 2025

Editor

The crisis rocking Edo State chapter Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) reignited on Sunday as a faction loyal to the party National Vice Chairman, South -South elected Nosa Ogieva as the state chairman of the party.

Ogieva, who was sworn in alongside other 13 members of the executive promised to reunite the party, and that PDP would soon begin to win elections again in the state.

Recall that a faction loyal to the Umar Damagum-led national secretariat of the PDP held its congress on September 27, 2925 where Dr. Tony Aziegbemi emerged as the state chairman of the PDP.

Earlier in his opening remarks, Orbih said former governor of the state, Godwin Obaseki was responsible for the crisis in the party.

Obaseki, who said Obaseki quarreled with everybody he met in the party, added that the poor performance of the party in the recently conducted by-elections showed how unpopular the party had become.

Orbih carpeted an earlier statement issued by the other faction of the party where they called on members to disregard the announcement for the State Congress.

He said: “Just yesterday (Saturday), I saw a statement issued by some funny characters saying they are advising party members not to attend this event. Are you not here?

“Those who don’t have any moral authority to speak on behalf of the party should keep their mouth shut.

Politics

2027: Senator Imasuen Visits His Ward, Seeks Support For Tinubu

Published

14 hours ago

October 5, 2025

Editor

The All Progressives Congress (APC) family in Ward 5, Umagbai, Uhunmwonde Local Government Area of Edo State, on Saturday, rolled out the drums as Senator Neda Imasuen, representing Edo South, visited for an interactive session with party faithful at the grassroots level to mobilise support for President Tinubu ahead of 2027 general elections.

The interactive session, which drew chieftains, ward chairmen and party faithful from the 22 units in the ward, was marked by jubilation and reaffirmed the party’s strength in the district.

Speaking at the gathering, Senator Imasuen expressed gratitude for the warm reception, stressing the need to build bridges with his local base.

He noted that while he joined the APC at the State level on June 12, it was crucial to identify with his ward because “politics is local.”

“It was very imperative that I come to my ward, not only to officially inform them of my joining the party since June 12, but also to meet the ward executives,” the lawmaker said.

“This move will strengthen the party, promote unity and ensure victory at the polls.”

Imasuen lauded President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for what he described as “bold and courageous” economic reforms, adding that such steps were necessary to turn the nation’s fortunes around.

He also echoed the Edo State governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo’s pledge to deliver 2.5 million votes to Tinubu in 2027, declaring the target a “done deal.”

“By the grace of God, Asiwaju 2027 is settled. Part of that settlement is to begin to work towards that goal from the grassroots,” he added.

APC leaders in the local government hailed the senator for the move to galvanize support for the president ahead of 2027, pledging their support for the movement.

The All Progressive Congress, LGA Chairman, Osayimwenre Osawe, described him as “an asset” whose presence as a federal lawmaker would bring democratic dividends to Uhunmwonde.

“He is not a liability. He came to add value. Being a senator of the Federal Republic is a plus to our party. Beyond development, his return for a second term would make him a ranking senator, and that will position him for more influence on the Senate floor,” Osawe declared.

Also speaking, Acting Council Chairman, Augustine Imafidon Uhuonde, pledged unwavering support for the senator, praising his performance in facilitating projects in the senatorial district.

“Even watching him from the other side, he made us proud. Today, he has come down to the ward level to join hands with us. That shows he is ‘grass-rooted’ and truly the man of the people,” Uhuonde said.

Prominent party figures at the event included Festus Aimierovbiye, Chairman APC Ward 5; former Edo State Commissioner for Transport, Hon. Orobosa Omo-Ojo; Hon. Derick Uhunmwagho, Liaison Officer and Chief of Staff to the senator; Iziegbe Gabriel, LGA Coordinator; and Ese Edegbe, Ward 5 Assistant Coordinator.

Politics

Court Declines Kachikwu’s Motion Against INEC, ADC Leaders

Published

2 days ago

October 3, 2025

Editor

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday declined to hear an application filed by the African Democratic Congress’ 2023 presidential candidate, Dumebi Kachikwu, against the Independent National Electoral Commission and the Senator David Mark-led leadership of the party.

Justice James Omotosho, in a ruling, refused to entertain the motion.

Kachikwu, through his counsel, Dayo Akinlaja (SAN), had sought an order compelling INEC to withdraw the publication of Mark and Rauf Aregbesola’s names as national chairman and secretary of the ADC, pending the determination of the substantive suit.

INEC had recently recognised Mark, a former Senate President, and Aregbesola, a former Governor of Osun State, as the party’s national chairman and national secretary.

On July 7, Kachikwu and four others – Adikwu Elias, Etimbuk Umoh, Muhammed Khala, and Alaku Godwin William – filed an originating summons challenging the recognition of the duo.

The suit lists INEC, ADC, Chief Ralph Nwosu, Mark, and Aregbesola as the first to fifth defendants.

When the matter was called on Friday, Akinlaja told the court that a motion dated September 19 had been filed. He argued that despite the pendency of the suit, INEC went ahead to recognise Mark and Aregbesola as party leaders.

The plaintiffs asked the court to set aside the recognition and publication of their names, describing it as a breach of the doctrine of lis pendens. They also sought an injunction restraining Nwosu, Mark, and Aregbesola from further relating with INEC as ADC’s national officers.

However, counsel for the ADC, Shaibu Aruwa (SAN), along with other defence lawyers, opposed the application.

After hearing arguments, Justice Omotosho declined to entertain the motion, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1331/2025.

He said, “This court is not inclined to nullify anything at this stage, whether done before or now. This is a political case. I am not taking any interlocutory matter.”

The judge held that all processes filed by the parties, including preliminary objections, would be taken together with the substantive case.

Despite repeated pleas by Akinlaja for the motion to be heard, the court stood its ground.

Justice Omotosho also granted an application for joinder filed by Nkemakolam Ukandu, the ADC deputy national secretary, and ordered that his name be added as a defendant.

He directed the plaintiffs to file the amended processes within 48 working hours and gave the defence seven days to respond. The case was adjourned till October 23 for hearing.