The Edo Governorship Election Petition Tribunal resumed Tuesday in Abuja with explosive revelations from the PDP?s star witness ? PW12 ? who exposed alleged widespread irregularities in the September 21, 2024, governorship election and attempted to dismantle the case for INEC?s declaration of Monday Okpebholo as winner of the election.

The witness, a data analyst and director of research and strategy for the petitioner and governorship candidate of the PDP, Asue Ighodalo, based his testimony on a forensic review of election documents, including BVAS accreditation reports, IREV results, agent duplicate copies of results, and certified copies of INEC forms. He presented evidence of alleged over-voting in and incorrect collation in 445 polling units. He also presented alleged invalid results in 320 polling units due to INEC?s alleged failure to comply with section 2.3.6 of its own Manual for Election Officials.

Quoting the manual, the witness explained that INEC is required to record the serial numbers of sensitive election materials, including result sheets and BVAS machines, in Form EC25B before distributing them.

?My Lord, this requirement was also spelt out in the Electoral Act. Their failure to fill out these forms renders the results from 320 polling units invalid,? he stated.

The atmosphere in the Tribunal grew tense as respondents? counsels attempted to undermine the testimony. During cross-examination by APC?s counsel, E.U. Ukala, the witness was asked whether INEC uploaded all polling unit results to the IReV portal. His response was swift: ?That is patently false, my Lord. INEC uploaded only 4,466 out of 4,519 results. They failed to upload 53 polling unit results, so your statement is incorrect.?

Efforts by the respondents? lawyers to question the witness?s credibility backfired when they alleged he could not speak authoritatively about polling unit results because he was not physically present. The witness calmly countered: ?My Lord, as director of research and strategy I set up the first petitioner?s situation room so I collected and stored the results. Besides, counsel earlier referred to 16 agent polling unit results, noting that three were not stamped. Counsel was not at any polling unit either, yet his review revealed inconsistencies. Similarly, my findings are based on a comprehensive examination of documents that clearly show over-voting, missing mandatory forms, and improper collation in a total of 765 polling units.?

His declaration that ?Ighodalo won the election?this fact is available to anyone with access to the documents? left respondents? counsels visibly unsettled.

A mild drama unfolded when APC?s lawyer pressed the witness on the authenticity and date of certification of the BVAS reports. In response, the witness stated that the documents were created on the day of the election, months before copies of the certified extracts were obtained from INEC earlier this month, forcing the counsel to cut short his cross-examination.

The Tribunal has adjourned proceedings to January 30, 2025, but the mood within the PDP camp present, led by Edo PDP Chairman Anthony Aziegbemin, was jubilant as they celebrated the performance of their star witness. Notable APC leaders present were Pastor Ize-Iyamu and former deputy governor of Edo State Philip Shaibu. (Courtesy, excluding headline, NAN)

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