2023 Polls: Tribunal admits Tinubu’s Chicago State University education record, US visa, as exhibits in Atiku’s petition

 

 .As INEC hires 427 lawyers to prosecute 215 electoral offenders

.Closes defence in Obi/LP petition, tenders documents

.Court admits AWS Cloud Trial Log on IReV as evidence in Obi’s petition

.As INEC closes case in Tinubu’s defence

 

Chigozie Ikpo, Abuja.

The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), sitting in Abuja, on Tuesday in Abuja admitted as exhibits, the Chicago State University Educational documents of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in a petition by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Abubakar Atiku, challenging his election.

 

Tinubu who formally opened his defense, tendered the educational documents to establish his attendance and graduation at the American University comprising the admission letter offered Tinubu by the famous Institution among others.

 

Also tendered through his lead counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), are his US Visa documents which indicated that he severally visited the United States of America (USA) unhindered between 2011 and 2021.

 

Tinubu who tendered the documents to debunk allegations of criminality contained in the petition against him also made available to the Court all documents of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) which cleared him for the US trips.

 

Also admitted as exhibits by the Court are the Uinted State of America’s Embassy letter of April 4, 2003 which is a response to a letter of the Nigerian Police  dated February 3, 2003 which claimed that the Embassy had no criminal records  of Tinubu in the USA.

 

The Presiding Justice of the Court, Justice Haruna Tsammani admitted the documents despite the objections against their respective admisibility by PDP and the former Vice President.

 

However, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) who are 1st and 3rd respondents in the petition did not object to admission of all the documents.

 

Apart from the educational documents, the Court further admitted an originating simmons of a suit instituted at the Supreme Court by the Attorneys General of Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and Sokoto States challenging the educational background of Tinubu to stand for the 2023 presidential election.

 

Also admitted are newspaper publications on several suits filed against Tinubu by several groups.

 

Justice Haruna Tsammani after admitting all documents, adjourned further hearing till tomorrow, July 5.

INEC closes defence in Obi/LP petition, tenders documents

 

)The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has opened and closed its defence in the petition by Peter Obi and the Labour Party (LP) before the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC).

 

INEC’s lawyer, Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, announced the closure of the first respondent’s case after the conclusion of the testimony of its sole witness, Dr Lawrence Bayode, a Deputy Director in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Department of INEC.

 

Before calling on it’s witness, INEC tendered some documents which were admitted and marked as exhibits.

 

Led in chief by Mahmood, the witness told the court that he worked for INECfor  24 years .

 

Under cross examination by Patrick Ikwueto, SAN counsel for the petitioners the witness told the court that the testing of the software application for the election was carried out on Feb 4.

 

He added that there was a report on the testing but it was not with him in the court.

 

The petitioners however, tendered the E- transmission saver Web and compliance form through the witness and was admitted and marked as evidence .

 

The witness told the court that the pre-production test was carried out before the election.

 

When asked if the hard copy of the results would be different from the ones in the IreV, he said no.

 

He however, added that anything could happen when sending the results from form EC8A to the IreV.

 

He admitted that performance, functionality and vulnerability tests were carried out before the election.

 

The witness agreed with Ikwueto that the report of the e-Transmission application identifies remediation to be undertaken to resolve the high vulnerability identified in the report.

 

The witness said he does not know INEC ‘s web address were it’s materials are published.

 

In his cross examination, Wole Olanipekun , SAN counsel for Tinubu and Shettima asked if foundation and authenticity of any election by INEC is rooted in forms EC8A and EC8E, the witness said yes.

 

The witness added that blurred documents downloaded from INEC IreV would not affect the physical results in form EC8A because the image there is not relevant.

 

He said the election is ended with the recording , snapping and sending to INEC ‘s IreV.

 

Answering questions from APC counsel, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, the witness said the physical results are use for computing the election final results.

 

He said the glitches that occurred on the day of the election did not affect the collation of the results.

 

He added that if what was downloaded from the IreV are not clear the physical results could also be obtained.

 

He told the court further that ECOWAS monitored the election but he does not have their report.

 

The witness stated that the cloud trial log account of INEC can be obtained from Amazon Web services (AWS).

 

He added that this shows the patches that were deployed on E- transmission applications on AWS to fix the glitches that that was encountered on election day.

 

After the testimony of the sole witness, Mahmoud told the court that f INEC’s defense in the Obi and Labour Party petition is closed.

 

Olanipekun later told the court that Tinubu and Shetimma, who are listed as second and third respondents in the petition will tomorrow open their defence.

 

The five-member panel presided over by Justice Haruna Tsammani adjourned until tomorrow for the Tinubu and Shettima to open their defence.

 

Obi and his Labour Party (LP) are petitioners in the petition marked CA/PEPC/03/2023 challenging the election which brought president Bola Tinubu into power

 

Respondents are Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) president Bola Tinubu and Vice president Kashim Shettima and All Progressives Congress (APC.)

.INEC Begins Review, Engages 427 Lawyers To Prosecute 215 Electoral Offenders

 

Meanwhile, The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC said it has received 215 case files from the Nigerian Police in respect of electoral infractions during the 2023 general election.

 

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu disclosed this on Tuesday at a meeting with states Resident Electoral Commissioners RECs to review the general election.

 

 

Accordingly, he said the commission was working with the Nigerian Bar Association NBA to prosecute the electoral offenders, adding that the NBA has provided 427 lawyers to help prosecute the cases free of charge.

 

“I can confirm that we have received 215 case files from the Nigeria Police following their arrest and the conclusion of an investigation into electoral offences arising from the 2023 General Election.

 

“We are working with the Nigerian Bar Association NBA to prosecute the alleged offenders. Already, the NBA has submitted a list of 427 lawyers across the country who have volunteered to render pro bono services to the Commission.

 

 

“They are not charging legal fees but by mutual agreement, the Commission will provide a token amount to cover filing fees/expenses.

 

“We are most grateful to NBA and its President, Yakubu Maikyau SAN, for this historic collaboration. Similarly, we are working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission ICPC on the prosecution of cases relating to vote buying and associated violations”, he stated.

 

Yakubu also added that the commission has received the police report in the suspended Adamawa REC, Yunusa Ari, saying INEC would soon take appropriate actions against him.

 

 

He also explained that in line with the mandate of the commission, it would never join issues with observer groups or political parties regarding the conduct of any election.

 

INEC had consistently declared that it would never join issues with anyone, especially partisans.

 

Addressing the RECs, Yakubu said the purpose of the meeting was to reflect on the just concluded 2023 General Election.

 

“Following the conclusion of the election, the time has come for introspection, stocktaking, review and evaluation”, he stated.

 

Yakubu noted that since the conclusion of the election, diverse opinions have been expressed by political parties, candidates, observers, analysts and the general public on aspects of the elections that took place in February and March.

 

 

“Such diverse opinions should normally be expected, and the Commission welcomes all of them insofar as their purpose is to improve the future conduct of elections and to consolidate our democracy.

 

“The Commission has consciously not joined in these commentaries in the immediate aftermath of the election for several reasons. First, our preference is to listen more and draw lessons rather than join in the heated and often emotive public discussion on the election.

 

“Second, since we plan to conduct our own review of the election, we see no need to pre-empt the process. Third, the Commission would not want to be seen as defensive or justificatory in joining the ongoing discussions.

 

 

“Finally, and perhaps most importantly, several issues around the election are sub-judice and it is not the intention of the Commission to either undermine or promote the chances of litigants in the various election petition courts beyond what is required of us by the legal process.

 

“Indeed, practically anything coming from the Commission could be cited by litigants as either justifying their claims or an indication of bias against them”, he stated.

 

He said in spite of the foregoing, it was appropriate to make a few broad remarks about the 2023 General Election as the commission commences its review of the election.

 

 

“In doing this, it is necessary to look at the entire process before, during and after the election to make an informed assessment.

 

“Granted that events on Election Day are probably the most important in terms of the optics of elections, it is also very essential to look at the totality of the process.

 

“This is necessary if we are to learn the full lessons of the election going forward.

 

 

“Compared to some previous elections, we believe that the 2023 General Election was one of the most meticulously prepared for in recent times.

 

“Learning from previous experiences, we started preparations immediately after the 2019 General Election, carefully ticking the necessary boxes over a four-year period.

 

“It is the need to learn from both the positives and the shortcomings that make the stocktaking that we are embarking on today essential.

 

 

“Among the positive stories is that the security challenges which threatened to derail the elections did not materialize.

 

“Concerns that the polls will be disrupted by the perennial insecurity across the country fizzled out on Election Day as the elections were largely peaceful.

 

“Despite currency and fuel challenges and widespread attacks on our personnel and facilities nationwide, the Commission proceeded with the election as scheduled.

 

 

“The first set of elections, the Presidential and National Assembly, held as planned for the first time in the last four General Elections conducted in the country.

 

“Accreditation of voters using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System BVAS has generally been scored very high by voters.

 

“Our records show that the success rate for BVAS accreditation stands at 98% compared to the Smart Card Reader’s 29.2% during the 2019 General Election.

 

 

 

“Above all, despite the divergent opinions about the outcome of the election, the overall outlook suggests that it is a fair reflection of a complex multi-party democracy.

 

 

“We wish to remind Nigerians that elections were held for a total of 1,491 constituencies made up of one Presidential, 28 Governorship, 109 Senatorial, 360 Federal Constituencies and 993 State Assembly seats.

 

 

“Our record shows that these elections have produced the most diverse outcomes ever recorded since 1999.

 

“Today, five political parties produced State Governors, seven parties won Senatorial seats, eight are represented in the House of Representatives and nine in State Houses of Assembly.

 

“Clearly, the 10th National Assembly is certainly the most diverse in party representation since 1999.

 

 

“In some States around the country, different political parties controlled the legislative and executive arms of Government. What is clear from these records also is that the days of single-party dominance of our national politics are probably gone.

 

“Furthermore, many prominent candidates lost in the constituencies they contested, and political parties lost in some of their presumed strongholds.

 

“Still, we must acknowledge that there were also some challenges, which were structural, infrastructural and human in nature. Indeed, it is in furtherance of our determination to address the challenges as we prepare for future elections that the Commission is commencing its post-election review engagements today.

 

 

“We are presently looking at all the evidence of infractions during the election, including the prosecution of offenders. We are looking at the activities of all actors involved in the election, including some of our high-ranking officials. I can confirm that the Nigeria Police concluded its investigation of the conduct of our Resident Electoral Commissioner in Adamawa State and submitted the case file to us. Appropriate action will be taken in a matter of days and Nigerians will be fully informed”, he added.

 

Slams erring RECs

 

Noting that in the next few weeks, several internal debriefing meetings will be held, culminating in engagements with stakeholders, Yakubu told the RECs to lead the discussions on all aspects of the election from preparations, conduct and aftermath.

 

 

He also berated a few of the RECs for not managing their briefs as expected, adding that administrative actions have already been taken against such officials.

 

“Let me at this point specifically reiterate to the Resident Electoral Commissioners that we are commencing these debriefings with you because you are central to the conduct of elections. Many of you performed very well during the general election under extremely challenging circumstances. I commend you for that. However, a few of you did not properly manage the tasks lawfully bestowed upon you for which the Commission has taken some administrative action. I urge you to remain loyal to your oath of office”, he stated.

 

 

 

According to Yakubu, some of the issues to be reviewed are the operational processes for Continuous Voter Registration CVR and general elections, including planning, organization, coordination and evaluation of activities, focusing particularly on such specific issues as the issuance of voters’ cards, logistics, delivery of materials, deployment of personnel, etc.

 

 

Others are the “legal framework for the conduct of elections with a view to addressing any key legal challenges that may have arisen prior to the 2023 General Election which was not envisaged before the election; Technologies deployed in the electoral process, including the INEC Voter Enrolment Device IVED; INEC Result Viewing Portal IReV; Bimodal Voter Accreditation System BVAS; party nomination portal; observer, media and polling/collation agents’ accreditation portals etc., focusing particularly on their performance;

 

“Effectiveness of overall administrative procedures and channels within the Commission in the coordination and execution of pre-election, election and post-election activities;

 

“Political party registration, party primaries and nomination of candidates for the 2023 General Election, as well as monitoring of the processes;

 

“Process of recruitment, training, deployment and performance of all categories of ad-hoc staff during CVR and the General Election; and

 

 

Strengthening the Commission’s cooperation and relations with other bodies such as MDAs, NGOs etc. and any other issues in the electoral process that are likely to impact the work of the Commission in future.

 

“In line with our polic, at the end of the internal review and engagement with stakeholders, a comprehensive report will be published by the Commission.

 

“Furthermore, the Commission has so far received reports from 54 accredited national and international observers. We will give equal prominence to all the reports and review them in a holistic manner to ensure that necessary lessons are learnt from their conclusions and recommendations.

 

“Our work in INEC is enormous. As Resident Electoral Commissioners, you are no doubt aware, that there is no election season in Nigeria any longer. Numerous off-cycle and bye-elections are held throughout the period between one general election and another. Even as we commence our review of the conduct of the 2023 General Election and barely a few weeks after the inauguration of the National and State Houses of Assembly, we are already confronted with four bye-elections as a result of resignation in the case of Surulere 1 Federal Constituency of Lagos State and death in respect of Jalingo/Yorro/Zing Federal Constituency of Taraba State, Chibok State Constituency of Borno State and Chikun State Constituency of Kaduna State.

 

“Furthermore, the Commission is preparing for three off-cycle Governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi States, which are scheduled for 11th November 2023. We have already published the final list of candidates for the elections and the campaign in public officially commenced on 14th June 2023. The Commission will soon commence the regular stakeholder engagements ahead of the elections”, the INEC Chairman added.

.court admits AWS Cloud Trial Log on IReV as evidence in Obi’s petition, as INEC closes case in Tinubu’s defense

 

 

The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) on Tuesday, admitted as evidence, the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud Trial Log on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s electronic transmission system, deployed for the February 25 elections.

 

The log, which also shows the performance of the IReV portal was tendered alongside the certificate of compliance, by Counsel for INEC, A. B. Mahmoud (SAN), through the the commission’s witness, Dr. Lawrence Bayode, INEC Deputy Director, Information and Communication Department.

 

The Presiding Justice of the Court, Justice Haruna Tsammani admitted the documents as exhibits as there were no Objections.

 

During Cross-examination by Counsel for Tinubu and Shetimma, Chief Wole Olanipekun, Dr. Bayode told the court that Authenticity of elections by INEC are recorded in form EC8As and EC8Bs adding that blurred documents downloaded from INEC IReV portal, will not affect the physical results as recorded in form EC8As.

 

He said he was e naira project of President Muhammadu Buhari, launched on the 2021 which was taken off the Google play store for the purpose of fixing the technological Glitches.

 

He However stated that elections at the polling units are concluded when the Presiding officer sorts out the ballots, counts, announces openly to the hearing of their agents, snaps that image with the BVAS machine and uploading to the IReV.

 

In further Cross-examination by Counsel for the LP, Mr. Patrick Ikweto (SAN), Dr. Bayode told the court that the Cloud trail log are obtained from our account on the AWS  showing the activity of the patches deployed on the e transmission application on AWS to fix the Glitch that were encountered on the election day on the INEC application.

 

Mr. Ikweto referred him to a test report on the INEC server on the February 22, 2023, indicating vulnerabilities of the system, but the witness insisted that the report tendered by the party was functionality report on security and not on performance.

 

Dr. Bayode said the functionality test is to test if the system is doing what it has been designed to do while the performance test is to test how the system will behave under heavy usage, which is on the backend to ensure that the system is secure,

 

He said those issues were resolved and indicated in the report, insisting that the e transmission server was not vulnerable.

 

The witness said the Hard Copy of the form EC8As will not be different from the results and the Senior lawyer showed him blurred copies of INEC Certified documents on the IReV portal which he admitted not to see anything in them, but said it does not affect the final results.

 

The petition PEPC/CA/03/2023 was filed by Mr. Peter Obi and the Labour Party (LP), challenging the victory of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the February 25 poll.

 

Respondents in the petition are INEC, President Tinubu, Vice President, Kashim Shetimma and the All Progressives Congress (APC) listed as 1st to 4th respondents.

 

Counsel for INEC, A. B. Mahmoud (SAN), in. closing his case, also tendered the following documents;

1. Certified True Copies (CTC) of the 3rd & 4th Respondent’s letter dated 6th July.

 

2. CTC of INEC regulations and guidelines for the conduct of the election.

 

3. CTC of Respondent’s manual for election officials, 2023.

 

4. CTC of judgement of the Federal High Court, in suit FHC/Cs/1454/2022, Labour party vs INEC

 

5. CTC of Respondent’s letter dated March 10 2023 with the approved procedure for issuance of CTC of documents attached.

 

6. CTC of declaration of results from EC8E for the 2023 presidential election.

 

Justice Tsammani admitted all the documents as exhibits and adjourned proceedings till tomorrow, July 5 for Tinubu and Shetimma to open their defense.