In a significant turn of events, Professor Yakubu Mahmood, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), is set to testify on behalf of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in the ongoing petition against Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s declaration as President. The appearance is scheduled for June 15 at the Presidential Election Petition Court (PREPEC).
Professor Mahmood has been duly subpoenaed by Atiku’s legal team, led by Chief Chris Uche, SAN.
During the court proceedings on Tuesday, Chief Uche informed the panel, presided over by Justice Haruna Tsammani, that the INEC chairman would provide testimony on the conduct of the disputed Presidential election. Additionally, he would submit certain crucial documents to support the case presented by the Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The specific nature of the documents to be tendered by the INEC chief was not revealed by Chief Uche.
Chief Uche’s decision to announce Professor Mahmood’s appearance in court on Thursday was aimed at ensuring that the respondents, particularly Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC), were adequately informed and prepared.
During the proceedings, Atiku called upon his first key witness, Dr Alex Adum Ter, a legal practitioner and former Attorney General of Benue State. In his testimony, Dr Ter alleged numerous irregularities and non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2022 in the presidential election.
As evidence, the witness submitted three video clips featuring Professor Mahmood and Mr Festus Okoye, INEC’s Commissioner in charge of Voter Education. These clips were part of their broadcast, where they assured Nigerians that the presidential election results would be electronically transmitted to ensure credibility and transparency. The court admitted these video clips as exhibits, along with the Guidelines for Election Officers 2022 and Manual for Election Guidelines 2023, as presented by the European Union Election Observer Mission.
Despite strong objections from Tinubu and the APC regarding the admissibility of these documents, Justice Tsammani ruled in favor of their admission, followed by the public viewing of the video clips.
The witness also submitted screenshots of the IReV portal as further evidence.
Under cross-examination by INEC’s lawyer, Mr Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, the witness acknowledged that he was not present at the National Collation Center but instead at the PDP situation room in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Furthermore, he admitted that he was not an ICT expert and based his report on information provided by PDP agents at the collation centers.
The witness criticized INEC for its failure to transmit presidential election results electronically, stating that calculation errors led the electoral body into grave mistakes.
During cross-examination by Chief Akin Olujimi SAN, representing President Tinubu, the witness claimed that he concluded the presidential election was invalid based on reports of corrupt electoral practices conveyed to him by PDP agents.
Meanwhile, the next hearing in the petition has been rescheduled for June 14.