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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in its press statement of March 15, 2019, admitted having collated 17 local government area results. Where did INEC get the 22 local government area results it used in returning Governor Nyesom Wike as winner of the election?
This is the question presently before the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Port Harcourt as it is set “to unravel the mystery” behind the process, if all goes according to the wishes of the Action Democratic Party’s legal team.
Counsel to the ADP, Mr. Dolapo Tella Attoni, Wednesday cross-examined an INEC witness and electoral officer of Akuku Toru Local Government Area, Ibifuro B. Tariah, on how INEC got the results for the five other local government areas.
She admitted that twenty-two local government areas were used to return Governor Wike.
Asked her what she could make of INEC’s press statement, which stated that most of the collation centres were disrupted by armed thugs and that INEC officials were arrested, she said that there was no such disruption.
Subsequently, the counsel to ADP pointed out to her that her response at the tribunal was contrary to her deposition, to which she agreed.
INEC had on Tuesday July 23, 2019 presented two witnesses for Asari-Toru and Opobo/Nkoro local government areas, Messrs Gambo James and Samuel Udeze respectively, who denied being the makers of the INEC documents, Form EC8C, which bears the collated results of the LGAs.
This came against the backdrop of the ADP counsel’s stance that the witnesses were not competent witnesses for the INEC documents as the said documents did not originate from them.
The witnesses disclosed this on cross-examination by the ADP counsel, Mr. Dolapo Tella Attoni, who wanted to know whether they could stand as authentic witnesses to the documents.
The witnesses however admitted having seen the documents as that of their local government area results, but denied collating it.
On the INEC press release, which stated that 17 LGAs results were collated, but did not indicate the affected LGAs, the counsel to ADP asked the witness whether the press statement did not amount to stating that election did not hold.
Mr. Samuel Udeze said that he could not tell since he was not INEC’s spokesman.
Speaking to newsmen after the tribunal sitting, the ADP counsel said that it was wrong for INEC to present as witnesses, persons who did not originate the documents tendered to the tribunal.
“You saw the pattern of my questions put to the witnesses. And from their evidence, did any of them state that they were the makers of the documents that were tendered? None of them stated that they were the makers of the documents tendered so far. What have they tendered? Form EC8C, that is the local government collated results, which is supposed to be planted on Form EC8A & B. Now, even those who came to tender Form EC8C, the local government collated results, did not state that they made or did collate it themselves. Now, we are challenging all the electoral documents used by INEC and when there is such a challenge, the law expects you to call the maker or makers of those documents,” he said.