The lawyer representing Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has stated that they have issued a subpoena to Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to testify in court. Atiku’s lead counsel, Chris Uche, also mentioned that they have summoned Mrs Rose Omoa Oriaran-Anthony, the Secretary to the commission. Atiku is disputing the declaration by INEC that President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the presidential election held on February 25.
During the hearing at the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal in Abuja, Atiku’s lead counsel informed the court that they were presenting their 19th witness, Mr Alex Adumter, who is a lawyer, politician, and the National Coordinator of the PDP Situation Room. However, the counsel for INEC, Bola Tinubu/Shettima, and the APC raised objections regarding the admissibility of the witness’s statement on oath. In response, Atiku’s counsel urged the court to dismiss the objection entirely.
The court admitted the witness’s statement on oath and reserved its ruling on the matter until judgment day. The star witness provided three statements on oath, which the court accepted. Along with the statements, the witness submitted three videos as evidence, featuring the INEC Chairman, INEC commissioner Festus Okoye, and the European Union (EU) election observer mission.
Atiku’s counsel requested that the court play the video evidence during the open court session, and the court granted this application. One of the videos included a news conference by the INEC Chairman, where he promised the real-time transmission of election results and the exclusion of incidence forms, emphasizing the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) as the sole device. Additionally, screenshots of the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV), displaying the posted results, were also presented as evidence.
