ATIKU VS TINUBU: NASARAWA RESULT WAS SIGNED UNDER THREAT, WITNESS REVEALED TO COURT

Yesterday, a witness, Mr. Ibrahim Hamza, informed the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) in Abuja that he was forced to sign the results of the presidential election in Nasarawa state against his will. Hamza, who served as a state collation agent for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), stated that officials from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) threatened to withhold a copy of the election result unless he signed it.

During his testimony before Justice Haruna Tsammani and the panel of judges, Hamza revealed that there were a total of 3,256 polling units in the state, and the PDP had agents in all units and wards. However, when he was shown a copy of the presidential result from Nasarawa state, he claimed that it was tampered with and insisted that he had signed a clean copy.

Hamza also mentioned that INEC’s system failed during the result upload after the election. He was followed by Alhaji Mohammed Madaki, the Chairman of the PDP in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), who stated that the candidate of his party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, did not secure the constitutionally required 25% votes from the FCT, based on the “purported results” published by INEC.

The witness explained that copies of the presidential election results were typically taken at polling units and uploaded to INEC’s I-Rev portal. Madaki emphasized that the PDP had agents present in all polling units and that the agents also signed the results from the FCT.

During cross-examination, it was revealed that there are a total of 2,822 polling units in the FCT. The witness further mentioned that he personally wrote his witness statement and had it examined by his lawyer.

Another witness, Mr. Abraham David, who served as a PDP agent in the FCT during the election, stated that Atiku secured only 15% of votes in the FCT. However, he argued that if Bola Tinubu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was declared the winner despite not scoring 25% of votes, Atiku could also be returned.

The proceedings also involved a former Minister of Transportation and PDP member, Dr. Abiye Sekibo, who testified as the seventh witness. He presented a letter of appointment from the PDP as evidence and claimed that Atiku won the presidential election in Rivers state. However, he accused Tinubu and the APC of instigating violence that prevented the uploading of results in many polling units.

The witness admitted that he was not present at the locations where the attacks occurred and did not mention the names of the perpetrators in his statement. The court adjourned further hearing until the next day.