Atiku alleges INEC sabotage for failing to provide materials after receiving nearly N7m payment
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Atiku Abubakar has expressed concern over the inability of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to provide him with certified true copies (CTCs) of election materials for which he paid N6.9 million to prove the presidential election on February 25 was rigged for Bola Tinubu.
Atiku and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are challenging the election of Tinubu on grounds of gross violation of the Constitution, the Electoral Act, and guidelines set by the INEC itself.
The petitioners’ counsel, Chris Uche, SAN on Wednesday informed the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) in Abuja of their inability to get the CTCs of the electoral documents to be tendered against Tinubu’s election, despite payment of N6.69 million demanded by the INEC.
“We had a challenge with some of the documents we have applied for and paid for from INEC,” Uche said.
“Thank God, counsel to the first respondent [INEC], Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN promised to cooperate with us and we have sent a letter to him highlighting the remnants of the documents which we are in need of.
“He told us that some of the documents are not in Abuja. We paid N6.69 million for the certified true copies of the documents. We hope to get the documents by Thursday.”
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Court admits election documents from Kogi
The court admitted in evidence Form EC8Bs from 10 councils in Kogi tendered by the petitioners – against the objection of the INEC, Tinubu, and the APC.
The respondents said they will give the reasons for their objection during address that will come up later in the proceedings, per Tribune.
The INEC, Tinubu, and the APC, through their counsel also opposed the request by the petitioners to call three subpoenaed witnesses from the INEC to testify against Tinubu’s victory.
The respondents told the court they were not ready to cross examine the witnesses because their statements were not frontloaded as required by law.
The INEC said it ought to have been given time to verify the identities of the witnesses to confirm whether they are its ad-hoc staff as claimed by the petitioners.
PEPC Chairman Haruna Tsammani adjourned the case until June 8 for continuation of hearing.
Earlier, the petitioners called their 11th witness, Anambra PDP Chairman Ndibuisi Nwobu, who told the court he signed form EC8D because it was made a condition for him to get a copy of the result sheet.
Nwobu, who adopted the statement on oath he made at the registry of the court on March 21, accused the INEC of failing to deliver on its promise to electronically transmit election results in real time from polling units to its portal.