INEC Chairman to testify in suit against Tinubu’s victory on Thursday

The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, will on Thursday testify before the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja.

Mr Yakubu will testify in Atiku Abubakar’s petition challenging President Bola Tinubu’s victory at the 25 February presidential election.

Atiku, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), accused INEC and Mr Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of manipulating the polls.

His lead counsel, Chris Uche, on Tuesday, informed the five-member panel of the court chaired by Haruna Tsammani that Mr Yakubu would appear before it on Thursday.

At the behest of Atiku’s legal team, Mr Yakubu had been subpoenaed to testify on the conduct of the disputed election.

Also, he is expected to tender some sensitive electoral documents in aid of the petitioner’s suit.

Mr Uche, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), put INEC, Mr Tinubu and APC’s legal teams on notice concerning Mr Yakubu’s scheduled appearance on Thursday to forestall any impediment that may obstruct the hearing.

READ ALSO:

• Man, his four children among 103 drowned in Kwara boat accident
• Ill Health: Ondo Governor, Akeredolu, hands over power to deputy
• Man arrested on suspicion of murder after three people killed in Nottingham

Atiku calls first star witness

After calling 18 witnesses to testify for the petitioner, Mr Uche, on Tuesday, called his client’s first star witness.

The witness, Alex Ter, a lawyer and former Attorney General of Benue State, in his testimony, alleged that the February presidential poll was fraught with widespread irregularities as it was conducted in disregard of the Electoral Act, 2022.

In his witness statement on oath, Mr Ter said he was the national coordinator Situation Room for the PDP during the February 25 presidential election in Abuja.

He presented three video clips featuring INEC chair Mr Yakubu and INEC’s Commissioner for Voter Education, Festus Okoye, who both pledged that the electoral umpire would electronically transmit the election results.

The third video concerned the European Union Election Observer Mission, which was admitted as an exhibit by the court.

Also, the court admitted the guidelines for election officers 2022 and the manual for election guidelines 2023 as exhibits.

Mr Ter also tendered screenshots of the INEC IReV portal.

Despite Mr Tinubu and APC’s objections to the admissibility of the documents, the court admitted the videos played in court.