3 PDP Witnesses Dispute Presidential Election Results

The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal continued on Thursday with more witnesses of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) giving their testimonies.

One of the prosecution witness from Borno State, Kalid Kubu, told the Tribunal that the votes announced for President Muhammadu Buhari in his local government were not a true reflection of what happened on the Election Day.

The witness said that although votes were cast, however, in the course of counting the said votes in his home town of Kalgamari, there were about five bomb explosions which dispersed everyone.

He wondered how the votes allotted to the President were gotten, noting that was the reason he could not get a final result from the election in that local government.

The witness also alleged that a member of the House of Representative in his area came along with thugs to disperse voters in some polling units.

Another witness, Mr Bukar Petrol, told the Tribunal that voting started late in his Local Government Area (LGA) of Damboa in Borno State, as a result of what he termed the deliberate act by the electoral officer in the LGA.

He said that there were Boko Haram attacks which led to explosions, but the civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) took over the election proceedings in the local government.

The witness decried that this made it impossible for him as a party agent to perform his duties.

He added that he reported the issue to the security and relevant government agencies verbally, but wrote to his party.

Giving his testimony, Mr John Makama told the Tribunal that he refused to sign the final result sheets in Santa Local Government of Kaduna State.

He explained that he took the action because the collation officer allegedly mutilated the result sheets and the results he has were the ones provided by agents of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Makama told the Tribunal under cross-examination that even though election held at polling units, the cancellations happened at the local government collation centre.

“The results from the petitioners’ stronghold were illegally cancelled,” he said.

The witness added, “It is an open fact that political parties have stronghold where they are dominant and the Santa area is a stronghold of the Peoples Democratic Party.”

The petitioners in the case also tendered a manual for electronic voting, but it was not clear what year the manual was for.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the PDP had gone to the Tribunal to challenge the results of the keenly contested presidential election on February 23, 2019.

Among other prayers, they asked the Tribunal to nullify the re-election of President Buhari and declare Atiku as the winner of the poll.

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