INEC Presents Bola Tinubu’s Personal Information in Presidential Election Petition Court
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) appeared before the Presidential Election Petition Court on Thursday to submit the personal information provided by President Bola Tinubu during his qualification process for the presidential office. This action was in response to a subpoena issued by the court to Yakubu Mahmoud, the Chairman of INEC, requesting the documents.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, have contested the declaration of Bola Tinubu from the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the presidential poll held on February 25. On Tuesday, the PDP revealed that they had subpoenaed the INEC chairman to produce specific documents necessary to support their claim that Tinubu’s election was invalid.
During the hearing, Chris Uche (SAN), the lawyer representing the PDP, informed the court that the INEC chairman, through Deputy Director M.O Tairu, had submitted some of the requested documents as per the subpoena.Lawsuit Contesting President Bola Tinubu’s Election Dismissed by Federal High Court
As per the court’s instructions, Tairu presented form EC8D, which contained the results from all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. Certified True Copies of these accredited documents from the 36 states and the FCT were provided in both digital and physical formats.
Tairu also presented form EC8DA, which declared the final results. She further presented accredited data from the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System regarding Rivers State.
All respondents, including INEC, objected to the admissibility of these documents. INEC’s counsel, A.B. Mahmoud, also stated that the petitioners had not yet paid for the certification of the submitted documents.
In response, Uche countered that the sum of N6.7m “has been paid to the first respondent” and argued that the documents were produced in compliance with the court’s orders.
The five-man panel of the court, headed by Justice Tsammani, admitted the documents as evidence and marked them as exhibits.
The court subsequently adjourned further hearing on the petition until June 16.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the PEPC admitted data analysis of the February 25 presidential election results, along with their accompanying appendices, as evidence in Peter Obi’s petition against Tinubu.
The court also admitted blurred results from 18,088 polling units from the INEC results viewing portal as evidence.
Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), the lawyer for the LP, called Professor Eric Ofoedu, a mathematics professor, as a witness to present a report on data analysis of the election.
In a brief ruling, the five-man panel adjourned the proceedings until today (Friday) to allow the respondents’ counsel to cross-examine the professor.
Furthermore, Lumnie Edevbie, a staff member of Arise News, appeared as a witness for the Labour Party. Led by Patrick Ikweato (SAN), Edevbie submitted a flash
