Two Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials informed the Presidential Election Petitions Court on Thursday that they were unable to upload the results of the February 25 presidential election to the Result Viewing Portal (IReV), despite being able to do so for the Senate and House of Representatives elections.
They revealed this as more witnesses were asked by the Labour Party (LP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to testify before the Tribunal in the case challenging President Bola Tinubu’s win of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The PDP called two witnesses, whereas the LP only called one.
Although the witness for the LP was a software programmer, the witnesses for the PDP were presiding officers during the presidential election in the states of Abia and Bauchi.
The PDP called two witnesses who were presiding officers as the proceedings got underway. Both witnesses testified in court that they were unable to post the presidential election results on IReV, in contrast to the senatorial and house of representatives results, which were quickly posted on the website during the voting on February 25.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), President Tinubu, and the APC, through their attorneys, appealed with the Tribunal not to accept the testimony of the two witnesses, and as a result, the judges had to take an hour-long recess.
When the hearing resumed, the Tribunal postponed the PDP case until Friday.
The Tribunal reconvened after another hour’s break, and this time it was the turn of the LP, who brought just one witness—a software engineer—who claimed to have conducted a study into the reasons why INEC failed to upload the presidential election results and found evidence of sabotage.
The INEC’s counsel, however, took issue with this and raised objections to the statements.
The LP was also given permission to present the Tribunal with further material from Bayelsa State. The court likewise postponed the case involving LP to Friday, June 9, 2023.
