The Presidential Election Petitions Court has admitted in evidence two separate bundles of 18,088 result sheets from the Labour Party (LP) and Peter Obi over the February 25 presidential election.
A five-member panel of justices led by Justice Haruna Tsammani after they were Counsel to Obi and LP, Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) tendered the results.
The documents were copies of polling unit results from states of the federation and their blurred copies numbering 18,088 downloaded from IREV portal.
A professor of Mathematics at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Professor Eric Uwadiegwu Ofoedu, adopted the documents after they were tendered.
Obi, INEC differ over subpoena as LP tenders IREV reports
The presiding justice of the court, Justice Haruna Tsammani, pointing to the LP counsel that the documents were not certified by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), he said they (LP) certified them as provided under the Evidence Act.
The court also admitted and played back a video of the INEC chairman, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, giving a speech at Chatham House, London, on January 17 on the conduct of the presidential election.
The video, which was tendered through a correspondent of the Arise TV, Lummie Edevbie, showed Yakubu explaining that the use of BVAS for accreditation and IREV for public viewing of the results on the day of the election was mandatory, adding that the physical result sheet and that of the IREV must tally.
The court also admitted data analysis reports and appendices tendered by Ofoedu.
Lawyers to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima, and the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN); Wole Olanipekun (SAN); and Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) respectively had initially objected to the tendering of the evidence because they were not served on time to enable them to study them.
However, the respondents, who had earlier objected to the evidence of the witness, agreed to waive the cross examination till Friday after Ikpeazu had explained that they were only able to file the witness statements on oath on Wednesday which left them with only Thursday morning to serve the respondents; the respondents agreed to allow the witness to adopt his documents, and to cross examine him later.
INEC boss presents documents before tribunal in PDP
Similarly, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, tendered documents of the February 25 presidential election before the Presidential Election Petitions Court.
The INEC chairman was earlier subpoenaed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
The court presided by Justice Haruna Tsammani admitted the documents as tendered.
