An Assistant Director in the Information Technology (IT) Department of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Dr. Lawrence Bayode, who was also its Witness, has said categorically that only 31% of results collated when INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, declared Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu the winner of the 2023 presidential election, was mathematically correct.
The INEC Director cum Witness made the declaration answering questions during cross-examination at the Presidential Election Petition Court (PREPEC) on Monday.
The director made the admission under oath in Court Monday afternoon during the hearing of the case filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
He said emphatically that only 31% of results collated as at the time Mahmood Yakubu declared Tinubu president had been collated before INEC Chairman declared Tinubu the winner.
News Band correspondent, who witnessed the proceeding at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, Nigeria, noted that this would mean that the 2023 presidential election was not free and fair, and that the results of the election should be nullified.
At the PREPEC, opening its defense in the petition by Atiku Abubakar and the PDP, INEC had introduced its first witness, the Assistant Director in the ICT Department.
The witness, who adopted his witness statement on oath, was led in evidence by the lead Counsel of INEC and was cross-examined by Counsel to the Respondents and the Petitioner.
Meanwhile, counsel to Atiku/PDP, Chris Uche (SAN), said that they successfully tendered before the court as evidence the Final Report of the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) in Nigeria.
Watch the analysis in the video clip below:
The erudite senior lawyer leading Atiku’s legal team used the sole INEC witness that eventually showed up at the PEPC to tender the bombshell document which faulted the emergence of Bola Tinubu as winner of the 2023 presidential election.
The INEC’s Director of Information Technology was brought in to testify for INEC and collapsed under overwhelming evidence, admitting that only 31% of the election results had been uploaded before Yakubu announced Tinubu winner.
Uche (SAN), while cross-examining the INEC witness, had demanded that APC and Tinubu should go first as they were co-respondents in the matter.
APC and Tinubu lawyers objected, and the five-member panel had to go into their Chambers before coming out to rule that APC and Tinubu should cross-examine the INEC witness before Atiku.
Uche then asked for 20 minutes to cross-examine the witness, and again APC and Tinubu opposed, forcing the Court to rule in Atiku’s favour.
He again asked that the INEC witness should be made to read some critical portions of the European Union’s final report on the presidential election.
Tinubu, APC and INEC again opposed it, but the judges again ruled in favour of Atiku and the relevant portions were read.
The INEC witness told the court that there was a technical glitch that affected the uploading of the presidential election results.
Under Chris Uche’s cross-examination, however, he admitted that the imaginary glitch was not reported to Amazon Web Services (AWS) by INEC.
EU EOM, on their part, faulted both the conduct and outcome of the 2023 presidential election held on February 25, 2023.
The group stated that lack of transparency in the implementation of election technology used during the 2023 general election and failure to promptly upload the presidential elections results on IREV was part of the bane of the presidential election.
While INEC concluded its defense, the hearing was adjourned to 4th July, 2023, by the Chairman of the panel, Hon. Justice Haruna Tsammani for continuation.
Reactions trail the confession by INEC Director:
IPC Justice wrote:
“An INEC director made this claim under oath that only 31% of the results had been collated before INEC Chairman Yakubu declared Bola Tinubu the winner. This would mean that the 2023 presidential election was not free and fair, and that the results of the election should be nullified.
“The fact that they rested their case with only this witness is also shocking and reinforces our call that Mr. Yakubu and his associates at INEC committed a treasonable offense by organizing a coup by server manipulation.
“They lied to the Nigerian people and benefited from this act. They all should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. According to the Nigerian constitution, treason in Nigeria is punishable by death.”
‘Demola Olarewaju:
“The erudite senior lawyer, Chris Uche (SAN), leading Atiku’s legal team, is yet another reason why ethnicity must never blind us to competence.
“With their only witness’ testimony destroyed in minutes and four documents tendered, INEC closed its defense in the petition filed by Atiku Abubakar and the PDP against the declaration of Tinubu as the winner of the February 25 presidential election.
“Tinubu meanwhile has been ordered to open the defense of his rigged victory in the presidential election tomorrow (Tuesday, July 4, 2023) by the PEPC.
“If the PEPC does what is right with the evidence as of today, Bola Tinubu will be the first President to be removed in Nigeria.
“Mahmud Yakubu will be the first INEC Chairman to go to jail for rigging and the worst outcome from all of it is a rerun of that spurious and fraudulent election INEC conducted.
“Well done, Chief Chris Uche (SAN) Atiku supporters salute you.”
Dr El Mo:
“Only 31% of the results on IReV are mathematically correct – INEC witness tells tribunal. The remaining 69% of the results on IReV represent rubbish.
“Results on IReV are a representation and / or snapshot of the manual result. If 69% are mathematically incorrect, where did INEC get the computed results to declare Tinubu as the winner?
“The onus is on the tribunal justices to stand on the side of the truth and end this nonsense.”