BVAS Results Were Wiped Out by INEC, a Forensic Expert Said the Tribunal Court

Mr. Hitler Nwala, a digital forensics expert, claimed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) erased the results of the presidential election that took place on February 25 when he appeared before the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, in Abuja on June 22.

A five-member panel of court justices chaired by Justice Haruna Tsammani admitted documents demonstrating the deletion of presidential election results as evidence.

Nwala noted that a test done on a sample of 110 BVAS machines showed variations that could be found nationwide. Nwala was called as the 25th witness for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who is contesting the declaration of President Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, as the winner of the presidential election.

Additionally, he disclosed that the 3,163 BVAS results utilised for the FCT election were also removed despite the fact that there were no governorship elections held in the territory.

During the witness’s cross-examination, INEC’s attorney, Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, criticised the witness’s report and emphasised that the 110 BVAS devices utilised in the election were insufficient to prove that the Commission had acted improperly.

Mahmoud argued that the sample the witness based his report on represented only about 3.5 percent of the total device the INEC deployed in the FCT and 0.06 percent of the total BVAS that was used for the presidential election across the country. Mahmoud pointed out that a total of 3, 263 BVAS devices were deployed during the presidential election.

READ ALSO: World billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have agreed to a massive cage fight

The legal teams for President Bola Tinubu, led by Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, and the APC, led by Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, pleaded with the court to reject the witness’ report, which they claimed was riddled with obvious flaws.

PDP lawyers Chris Uche (SAN) and Eyitayo Jegede (SAN) also submitted bundles of certified copies of INEC’s Forms EC8A from 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Ogun state in addition to highlighting the importance of the witness’ testimony to his clients’ case “considering that it was the first that we had a technologically driven election in this country.”

Also, 17 LGAs in Ondo State, 27 LGAs in Jigawa, and 20 LGAs in Rivers State submitted certified copies of polling unit results (Form EC8A series).

President Tinubu and the APC voiced objections to the admission of the election documents as evidence, while INEC opposed their acceptance and stated that it will explain why in its final written address.

The documents were admitted as evidence by the Judge Tsammani-led panel, who designated them as Exhibits in the case.

The case was postponed until Friday so that the petitioners could wrap up their argument before the Respondents could launch their defence.