The 12th petitioner witness, Oseyili Anenih, in the Edo State Election Petition Tribunal, sitting in Abuja, on Tuesday, said that the 21 September 2024 gubernatorial polls were marred by irregularities.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Dr. Asue Ighodalo dragged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the All Progressives Congress (APC), and its candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo, before the election tribunal, challenging the outcome of the result, which was decided in favour of Okpebholo (now Governor).
At the resumed hearing, which was moved from Benin City, the Edo State capital, to Abuja, Anenih, PDP’s star witness and Director of Research and Strategy, testified before the tribunal.
He relied on his forensic examination of original agent copies and CTCs of Forms EC8A, EC8B, EC8C EC8D, including results from INEC’s Result Viewing (IREV), accreditation reports of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), and extracts to lead evidence of over voting in 765 polling units across the 18 Local Government Areas in the state.
He also stated that the first respondent (INEC) did not record, in the prescribed forms, serial numbers and other particulars of result sheets, BVAS machines and other sensitive electoral materials, and the commission’s failure to make the prior recording in the prescribed forms rendered the election in 320 polling units invalid for failure to comply with requirement of prior recording under the Electoral Act, 2022.
Under cross-examination by INEC counsel, Chief Kanu Agabi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Anenih, who is a data analyst, alleged widespread irregularities in 765 polling units.
He told the tribunal that PDP and Ighodalo are challenging the results from these units, which represent 16.7 per cent of the 4,519 polling units in the state.
The expert witness said that, after taking away the invalid votes from the valid ones, the petitioner, (Ighodalo) clearly won the governorship election.
Anenih said that the irregularities were documented in his witness statement on oath, which he urged the tribunal to adopt as evidence.
He alleged that there were infractions in 320 polling units, reported to him by party agents and election experts through oral and written submissions.
Anenih added that, while he could not visit all the polling units during the election, most of the evidence the petitioners relied on came from reports submitted by agents and experts.
‘I personally examined the materials and other documents used during the election’, he said.
He further said that, if lawful votes cast in the election were sincerely collated, his candidate, Ighodalo, would have emerged as the winner.
He also stated that most of the copies of the results provided to him by the party’s agents in the Situation Room were unsigned.
He said that irregularities were found in the election documents when compared with the certified true copies of results and the BVAS reports obtained from IREV portal.
He also admitted that none of the irregularities were personally documented by him.
Responding to questions from Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), counsel to the third respondent (Okpebholo), the witness said that, while the petitioners did not have physical access to the BVAS machines used for the election, they obtained screenshots of the data, which they tendered as evidence.
He told the tribunal that the BVAS machine was crucial in the election.
Ikpeazu, however, challenged the authenticity of the data, pointing out that the certified true copies were obtained on 8 January 2025, while the data extraction occurred on 21 November 2024.
He noted that polling unit agents are expected to reconcile results to ensure consistency with BVAS entries.
Under cross-examination by the second respondent’s counsel (APC), Emmanuel Ukala, Anenih said that he did not receive results directly due to disruptions during the election. However, he added that some results eventually made their way into the collation room.
He also confirmed that he was not trained by INEC to play any role during the election. Additionally, he said some agents’ copies of results were illegible and were therefore excluded from the petition.
After the cross-examination of the star witness, the three-man tribunal panel led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi discharged the witness.
The sitting was, however, cut short due to the inability of Ighodalo and PDP’s counsel Adetunji Oyeyipo, to present the next witness.
Oyeyipo requested an adjournment, citing travel disruptions which has affected most of their proposed witnesses.
‘My Lords, this is the reason we are unable to present them today. We urge Your Lordships to give us another date. We undertake that on the next date, we will bring as many witnesses as may be convenient for the tribunal.
‘We will also work assiduously to trim down our witnesses’, Oyeyipo said.
Upon the request of the petitioner’s counsel, the tribunal adjourned the hearing until Thursday.
