The Independent National Electoral Commission, on Thursday, tendered Bimodal Voter Accreditation System machines before the Edo State Governorship Election Tribunal in Abuja.
Appearing before the court on a subpoena issued by the Tribunal on January 9, a senior technical officer in INEC’s ICT department, Anthony Itodo, informed the tribunal that he brought a total of 148 BVAS devices from 133 polling units, reports The PUNCH.
He stated, “My Lord, I brought 148 BVAS devices used in 133 polling units.”
The Peoples Democratic Party and its governorship candidate, Asuerime Ighodalo, who contested the September 21, 2024, gubernatorial election in the state, had dragged INEC, Governor Monday Okpebholo, and the All Progressives Congress before the Tribunal to challenge the election results.
Itodo explained that some polling units had two BVAS devices.
Upon the presentation of the BVAS machines and confirmation of their numbers, the petitioners’ counsel, Robert Emukpoeruo (SAN), informed the Justice Wilfred Kpochi-led three-member panel that the INEC official had previously claimed to have brought 151 BVAS machines, not 148.
He urged the court to verify the actual number of devices by conducting a count to address the discrepancy.
He said, “My Lords, the subpoenaed INEC staff repeatedly told us there were 151 BVAS machines, and now he says it is 148. I appeal to the court to have the secretary count the BVAS devices.”
Subsequently, Emukpoeruo demanded that the BVAS devices be removed from their boxes.
He stated, “We did not request BVAS machines with boxes; we requested only the BVAS devices. Let him bring out the BVAS machines and take away the boxes. My subpoena is for BVAS machines, not boxes, and I have not seen the BVAS machines.”
Meanwhile, counsel for Okpebholo and the APC, Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) and Emmanuel Ukala (SAN), respectively, opposed the petitioners’ counsel’s arguments.
They contended that the INEC staff was not a sworn witness and was only required to tender the documents and leave. They further argued that there was no need to exaggerate the BVAS issue.
INEC counsel, Kanu Agabi, clarified the matter by confirming to the Tribunal that “there are 151 BVAS units, but only 148 were requested, and only 148 relate to the election.”
Following this clarification, Emukpoeruo applied for the BVAS machines to be tendered from the bar.
Agabi, however, objected to this request, citing reasons for the objection. The second respondent (Okpebholo) and the third respondent (APC) also opposed the admission of the BVAS machines.
Despite the objections, the Justice Kpochi-led panel admitted the BVAS machines into evidence.
Earlier, Petitioner Witness Thirteen (PW-13), Eseigbe Victor, a 43-year-old farmer and politician residing in Uneme, Akoko-Edo LGA, took the stand. He adopted his witness statement as his evidence before the tribunal.
In his testimony, under cross-examination by INEC’s counsel, PW-13 disclosed that he did not sign Form EC8B for Ward 9 in Akoko-Edo.
When asked to provide evidence of his participation in the election process, he responded: “As the ward agent for Ward 9, Akoko-Edo, I have my tag as the ward chairman, and when the election was going on, I noticed the incorrect collation, which is why I did not sign it.”
He stated that there are 36 polling units in Ward 9 and that he received the unit results from the polling unit agents.
He added, “My evidence is based on those documents I received from my agents.” He affirmed receiving reports from his polling unit agents, which he said were oral. However, he admitted that he did not incorporate the oral reports into the documents. The reports were signed by the agents.
PW-13 noted that although the conduct of the election at the unit level was fair, his complaint was about complications at the collation level.
Meanwhile, PDP lead counsel, Ken Mozia, SAN, tendered PW-13’s agent tag to the tribunal. All three respondents opposed the tribunal admitting the tag, stating that the cross-examination did not arise from questions regarding the tag but from the face of the documents.
The tribunal, however, admitted the tag, declaring: “Witness PW-13 agent card admitted in evidence as Exhibit B10.”
PW-13 was then discharged, and Petitioner Witness Fourteen (PW-14) took the stand.
PW-14, Uyigun Imasuen, from Oredo LGA, told the tribunal that he is a farmer. He affirmed signing his witness statement on oath and adopted it before the tribunal.
Mozia again submitted PW-14’s agent card for admission as evidence. Although the respondents’ counsel opposed the submission, the court admitted it.
The panel declared: “PW-14 agent identity card provisionally admitted as evidence.”
The witness noted that there were 72 polling units in total in Ward 1 of Oredo LGA. He confirmed that he was the party agent for all units and that he received result sheets from party agents of the units.
Under cross-examination, Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), counsel for one of the respondents, argued that the witness did not sign the statement as he was not in Benin when the election was held.
The witness refuted this claim, stating: “I was fully in Benin. My family is in Benin, and I signed the statement on September 11.”
Ikpeazu then requested a plain sheet for the witness to sign his signature five times to prove to the court that he had signed the document. Upon signing, Mozia objected to admitting the witness’s signature on the plain sheet, stating that the reasons for the objection would be reserved.
Despite the objection, the court admitted the signed sheet as evidence.
