INEC Ad-Hoc Staff Testified Against The Electoral Umpire

Two ad-hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have testified against the electoral umpire before the Presidential Election Petitions Court sitting in Abuja.

They were subpoenaed by the court at the instance of the Peoples Democratic party (PDP) and presented before the five-man panel of judges, led by Justice Haruna Tsammani.

They explained in their testimonies why the presidential election results were not transmitted into INEC’s results viewing portal on election day as was the national assembly election results.

The respondents urged the court not to take their testimonies until they had thoroughly studied their statements on oath.

But the court said it would rule on their objections later, while directing counsel to the PDP, Chief Chris Uche, to present his witnesses for the day.

One of the subpoenaed witnesses, Friday Egwumah, testified that he served in Abia state as one of the INEC ad-hoc staff and adopted his testimony on oath, insisting that the election did not go as outlined by INEC.

During cross-examination by INEC, Mr Egwumah told the court that with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), National Assembly results were scanned and uploaded to the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IRev).

But for the presidential election, which was conducted simultaneously, the witness said the BVAS could not transmit the scanned result sheet despite several attempts.

When asked who won in his polling unit, Mr Egwumah told the court that the Labour Party had won in his polling unit.