Atiku, PDP Witnesses Tell Court Presidential Election Was Well Conducted

During the proceedings at the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) on Friday, three witnesses called by Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) testified that the election process went smoothly in the states where they served as election officials. Grace Ajagbonna, Abidemi Joseph, and Obosa Edosa, who were ad-hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and worked as Presiding Officers in Kogi, Niger, and Edo states, provided their accounts.

Led in evidence by Chris Uche (SAN), the petitioners’ lawyer, Ajagbonna, the 14th witness for the petitioners (PW14), affirmed the contents of her written statement, which was admitted by the court despite objections from the respondents. Ajagbonna stated that she followed all instructions and regulations during the accreditation and voting processes. She personally collated and recorded the results in Form EC8A, which she and the party agents signed. Ajagbonna submitted the form to the Ward Collation Officer at the end of the exercise. She expressed satisfaction with the overall election process, except for the transmission of the presidential election result.

When questioned about her statement, Ajagbonna admitted writing it herself but could not clarify the meaning of the word “simultaneously” in her statement. She had mentioned that she attempted to upload Form EC8A and the election results simultaneously but was unsuccessful. In response to Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), representing INEC, Ajagbonna clarified that all party agents signed the Form EC8A before she took a picture with the BVAS device and submitted it at the Ward Collation Centre.

Joseph provided similar evidence and added, under cross-examination by Yusuf Ali (SAN), that they were taught during training not to compel party agents to sign result sheets. The choice to sign or decline was left to the party agents. Edosa stated that the election process went well, except for her inability to upload the result at her polling unit. She clarified that she attempted to upload the image of the manually filled Form EC8A using the BVAS device, but the upload failed. Edosa submitted the Form EC8A to the Ward Collation Officer as required.

At the conclusion of Edosa’s testimony, Uche requested an adjournment, which was supported by the respondents’ lawyers. The court adjourned further hearing until 10 am on Saturday.

These witnesses’ testimonies presented a positive perspective on the election process, as they stated that they followed the rules and regulations and expressed satisfaction with the overall conduct of the elections in their respective states.