The final report of the European Union Observer Mission on the 25th of February presidential election was yesterday admitted by the Presidential Election Petition Court, in Abuja.
The EU report was tendered at the tribunal by the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, who are challenging the outcome of the poll, in which President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
In its final report presented last week, the EU had declared the election was below expectations.
The Chief Observer of the EU Election Observation Mission, Barry Andrews, at a press briefing, said, ‘The election exposed enduring systemic weaknesses and therefore signal a need for further legal and operational reforms to enhance transparency, inclusiveness, and accountability.’
The EU also said the conduct of the election diminished public trust in INEC.
But the Presidency, on Sunday, in a statement by the President’s Special Adviser on Special Duties, Communication, and Strategy, Dele Alake, accused the EU of bias and an intention to ‘impeach the integrity of the 2023 elections’ which it described as the ‘best organised general elections in Nigeria since 1999.
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Alake said, ‘We strongly reject, in its entirety, any notion and idea from any organisation, group, and individual remotely suggesting that the 2023 election was fraudulent.’
However, on Monday at the tribunal, during cross-examination of an INEC witness named Lawrence Bayode, Atiku submitted the EU report through his attorney Chris Uche (SAN).
On Monday, INEC began presenting evidence to support its position that the presidential election was legitimate after being added as a defendant in Atiku’s petition.
The INEC witness acknowledged, on cross-examination by Uche, that as of March 1, 2023, when Tinubu was declared the victor of the election, INEC had not yet uploaded all of the presidential election results onto the IRev.
According to the witness, only 31 percent of the presidential election result was uploaded onto INEC’s result viewing portal.
He admitted that there was a technical glitch that affected the uploading of the presidential election results which was not reported to Amazon Web Services by the commission.
Under cross-examination by Tinubu’s lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), the INEC witness stated that images captured on Bimodal Voters Accreditation System, whether transmitted electronically or manually, does not affect the integrity of the election, ‘especially when the results are announced to the hearing and knowledge of party agents.’
He affirmed that ‘the outcome of the February 25 presidential election is free, fair, transparent and in substantial compliance with the provisions of the law.’
Apart from the witness, INEC also tendered four documents to back its case.
It, thereafter, closed its case.
The tribunal, headed by Justice Harunna Tsammani, adjourned till Tuesday (today), for Tinubu to open his defence.