Atiku, legal team excited on admission of Igini, 47 other video clips in evidence
The continued hearing at the 2019 Presidential Election Tribunal seating at the Appeal Court complex, Abuja Monday admitted in evidence, 48 video clips all laying credence to the claims of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, that contrary to the stand of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), that it conducted the presidential election without a central server, results of the election were transmitted to the server.
During the tendering proceedings, the video recording where the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Akwa Ibom State, Barr. Mike Igini, made it clear that all arrangements had been concluded by the electoral body to transmit election results with the use of smart card readers to the INEC central server, was played and admitted.
Recall that the viral video where Igini spoke with Channels Television shortly before the election was conducted, had raised serious questions for INEC at the time the election umpire started claiming that it never conducted the election with server.
Whereas under cross-examination by INEC led counsel, Yunus Usman, Atiku’s witness admitted that Igini was not the official spokesman for INEC, during the play of one of the recordings, the INEC REC for Akwa Ibom State was emphatic when he told the Channels TV crew that the electoral body would surely use smart card to transmit election results into the INEC server.
Also in another played video recording in the courtroom, INEC chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu was seen expressing utmost optimism before the election that the Commission would use the electronic system during the conduct of the 2019 general elections.
At the resumed hearing, Atiku’s counsel, Chris Uche (SAN), tendered 48 compact discs and admitted by the tribunal as part of efforts to substantiate alleged rigging against the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Uche tendered the 48 video recordings through Mr. Segun Showumi, one of the media aides to the PDP presidential candidate even as the counsel to President Buhari, Alex Izinyon had sought to play counter-video recording tomorrow (Tuesday) when hearing which was adjourned to today resumes.
Addressing the media shortly after the day’s seating, Uche and his team including Chief Mike Ozekhome and others expressed delight over the admissibility of their exhibits.
Earlier, breakthrough was first recorded by the Atiku and PDP legal team when the tribunal chairman, Justice Mohammed Garba dismissed the objection by Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to tendering and playing of the said video recording before the tribunal on the ground that they were not frontloaded.
Justice Garba held that both Buhari, APC and INEC are bound by the pre-hearing report they freely signed to the effect that documents to be tendered from the bar can only be opposed at the final address stage.
The tribunal chairman in the unanimous ruling also held that none of the four parties to the agreement can renege on any of the terms and, therefore, admitted the video clips as rendered by the two petitioners through their star witness.
Aside the 48 video clips admitted in evidence, three witnesses Babagana Kukawa, Abana Pogu and Suleiman Mohamed Bulama from Borno and Yobe states had testified that voters who are predominantly farmers in both states were harassed, intimidated and threatened to either vote for APC or risk being ejected from their farmlands.
Bulama specifically alleged that the APC used soldiers to molest, attack and injure some voters suspected to be sympathetic to PDP, revealing that even village and district heads were allegedly used to coerce the voters for Buhari and APC.
