The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Alhaji Mohammed Madaki, on Monday, told the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, sitting in Abuja, that candidate of his party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, was not qualified to be returned as winner of the presidential election that held on February 25.
Madaki, who appeared as the eight Petitioners' Witness, PW-8, told the court that going by "purported results" that were published by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, candidate of his party, Atiku, did not obtain the constitutionally mandatory 25% of votes in the FCT.
The witness, who was led in evidence by lead counsel for Atiku and the PDP, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede, SAN, identified the result of the presidential election from the FCT, which was already in evidence before the court as Exhibit PC-37.
While being cross-examined by counsel for the INEC, Mr. Abdullahi Aliu, the FCT PDP Chairman, told the court that the law made it mandatory that for a candidate to be declared winner of a presidential election, such candidate must score 25% of votes in FCT.
Asked if he was aware that going by his position on 25% votes in the FCT, his candidate, Atiku, was not qualified to be declared winner of the presidential election, the witness, said: "Yes, by the purported result published by INEC, he is not entitled to be returned as President."
He told the court that the normal practice was that copies of the presidential election are snapped at polling units and uploaded to INEC's I-Rev portal.
Alhaji Madaki told the court that PDP had agents across all the polling units, adding that agent of the party also signed result of the presidential election from the FCT.
While being cross-examined by President Bola Tinubu's lawyer, Chief Akin Olujinmi, SAN, the witness, told the court that there were a total of 2, 822 polling units in the FCT.
Also responding to questions from counsel for the All Progressives Congress, APC, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, the witness said he has lived in the FCT for over 35 years.
He told the court that he personally wrote his witness statement on oath at a business center and took same to his lawyer.
When he was presented with a document to read from, the witness said he could not see the letters, adding that he mistakenly broke his reading glasses on Sunday night.
Asked to tell the court the meaning of "conscientiously" that he added in his statement, since he was the one that wrote it, the witness, said, "honestly, I cannot remember."
Also asked if he was aware that there are a total of 176, 606 polling units across Nigeria, the witness, said he was not aware.
Shortly after Alhaji Madaki was discharged by the court, the ninth witness, PW-9, Mr. Abraham David, who mounted the box, told the court that he was an agent of the PDP in the FCT.
The PW-9, told the court that Atiku, being the presidential candidate of his party, scored only 15% of votes in the FCT.
Asked under cross-examination, if he was aware that Atiku did not secure up to 25% votes in the FCT and therefore, going by argument of his party, not qualified to be returned as winner of the presidential poll, Mr. David, said: "I agree that having not score 25%, he is not entitled to be returned as President. Even Tinubu too did not also score 25%.
"If it was not wrong to return Tinubu who did not score 25%, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar can also be returned. The person that was returned by INEC did not score 25% in the FCT," the witness insisted.
He told the court that he visited about 15 polling units in the FCT during the presidential election, saying though he witnesses the collation process, results were however not transmitted to INEC I-Rev as required by the law.
The witness told the court that collation of the presidential result in the FCT took about three days, alleging that INEC officials compromised the electoral process.
Asked to mention names of INEC officials that were involved in the alleged electoral malpractice, the witness said he did not know their names.
It will be recalled that one leg of the joint petition that Atiku and the PDP filed to challenge the outcome of the presidential election, was that President Tinubu of the APC, was that he did not secure at least one quarter of the votes cast in the presidential election in the FCT, Abuja.
The petitioners argued that out of the total votes of 478,652 cast in the FCT, Abuja, Tinubu, was ascribed only 90,902 (18.99%) of the votes.
"The Petitioners shall contend that to be declared duly elected, a candidate, in addition to obtaining not less than a quarter (25%) of the votes cast in at least two-thirds of all the States, must also receive at least one quarter (25%) of the votes cast in the FCT, Abuja, this being an additional requirement introduced by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the said Constitution having clearly distinguished the FCT, Abuja as a separate entity by specific and express mention," they added.
Meanwhile, earlier in the proceedings, the Justice Haruna Tsammani-led five-member panel, also heard the evidence of a former Minister of Transportation and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Rivers state, Dr. Abiye Sekibo, who appeared as the PW7,
Sekibo, in his evidence-in-chief, tendered a letter of appointment the party issued him as its Coordinator for the Presidential Election and it was admitted in evidence and marked as Exhibits PU.
He identified Exhibit PC-32, which is already before the court, as result of the presidential election from Rivers State as announced by INEC.
Under cross-examination, the witness insisted that Atiku won the presidential election in Rivers state, even though he accused President Tinubu and the APC of instigating violence that scared electorates away from many polling units.
Dr. Sekibo, who told the court that he voted at his Local Government Area, Okirika, further alleged that results of the election was not uploaded across about 6000 polling units in the state.
He said: "I was in my Local Government Area on the election day and I voted. I was verified, using the BVAS device.
"The accreditation took less than five minutes and I was thereafter given the ballot and I voted. I stayed for a while at my polling unit, for about 10muinites before I left.
"Thereafter I left to see what was going on and came back to my unit when they started counting. I was there when they finished and unfortunately the result could not be uploaded.
"The result sheet were filed in my presence and signed by party agents. I also witnesses results being collated in more than polling units at different times. There are more than 6000 polling units in Rivers state.
"In almost all the polling units, having concluded the election they could not upload. This happened across the entire state."
Asked if he was aware that the 20 polling units he visited, out of the over 6000 polling units in the state, amounted to about 0.5%, the witness, said: "I will leave the calculation for mathematics".
Asked to mention names of the agents that harassed voters and stopped uploading of the results, he said; "I don't need to know their names. But by their actions one could know who sent them".
On the alleged violence on the election day, Dr. Sekibo, said: "I received calls from our members that were asking to be rescued. We immediately responded and started heading to Obio/Akpor after I got the call, but we were blocked."
Asked if he was physically present at any of the LGAs where his party members were attacked, the witness said he was not there.
While being cross-examined by counsel for the APC, Prince Fagbemi, SAN, the witness, admitted that agents of the party he said were attacked during the election, are still alive.
Asked why he did not mention names of perpetrators of the violence in his statement on oath before the court, the witness, said: "I didn't have to. What they were doing in the field showed who they were. By the action they carried out, we knew whose interest they were protecting."
Asked if he was aware that in 2023 elections, votes were not based on political party lines, as the PDP, won the presidential election in Katsina, Dr. Sekibo, replied: "The PDP won the governorship election in Rivers State and we are saying that we also won the presidential election. I am not from Katsina".
He told the court that he was not the person that signed result of the presidential in Rivers state.
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