PEPT Proceedings: What Happened Today (Friday June 23rd , 2023)

Are you following the PEPT proceedings closely? If you missed today’s session, don’t worry. We have a brief summary of what happened for you. Here are the main highlights:

– The proceedings started at about 4:30pm with Dr Livy Uzoukwu SAN leading LP’s counsel team and Ikechukwu Ezechueku SAN leading APC’s counsel team.

– HE Peter Obi was absent and the party representatives were Comrade Ladi Iliya (LP Deputy Nat Chair) and Chris Maigida (Dep Dir, Legal Services for APC).

-Yunusa Tanko, who testified yesterday as LP’s chief spokesperson and media director, was cross-examined by all respondents (INEC, Tinubu/Shett, APC). He revealed that:

– He voted in his PU in Gawaki, Abuja using BVAS and then went to the LP situation room. He was also a PU agent.

– He had been involved in a previous court case between INEC and LP. The document of this case was admitted as an exhibit by the court.

– He was not aware of a Fed High Court ruling that gave INEC the liberty to decide whether to collate results manually or electronically. The ruling was also admitted as an exhibit by the court.

– He could not read a PU result that was shown to him because it was blurred and mutilated.

– LP had 133,000 PU agents and some agents from other parties like ADC. There were 176,974 PU units in total.

– He joined LP before Peter Obi and primaries were held on 30th May, 2023.

– LP won in his PU and came third nationwide. They won five SouthEastern states and Anambra with 95.7% votes. They also won 12 states nationwide but claimed they would have won more if votes were properly counted.

– He did not check the unlawful votes allocated to Tinubu and referred to the expert witness, Chibuike Ugboke, who had spoken on it.

– He confirmed several documents and dates received but admitted that some were not tendered due to time constraints but may be done later.

– He affirmed that some of the issues brought to court were about transmission, ballot box snatching/violence and double nomination. APC responded that a judgment had been made on double nomination and tendered it as an exhibit.

– Another witness, Emmanuel Yaro (PW11), who served as a presiding officer of a PU, was called up. He stated that:

– His adoption as a witness was objected to by respondents but his subpoena was not objected to.

– He successfully used BVAS to accredit voters and counted and recorded results. However, he had issues uploading them and reported to his supervisor who told him to take them to the collation centre. He signed results manually and party agents also signed and had their copies.

– There was no reexamination by respondents.

– The proceedings ended at about 7:45pm and adjourned till Monday July 3rd 2023.

We hope you found this summary useful. Stay tuned for more updates on the PEPT proceedings as they unfold.

>>Courtesy @PearlssTV /