Tribunal: Kogi State Collation Officer Says He Was Forced To Sign Election Results Sheets

Joe Agada, the first PDP witness, claimed on Thursday that he was pressured into signing the results sheets while serving as the Kogi State collation officer for the presidential election on February 25.

At the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja, where the outcome of the presidential election is being contested, retired Captain Agada made this claim while being cross-examined.

The witness informed the court that he visited a number of voting centers in several local government areas on election day while answering questions from counsel for the Independent National Electoral Commission, Abdullahi Aliyu (SAN).

The witness responded in an affirmative manner when INEC’s attorney questioned him about a rumoured manipulation of ballot papers that he indicated in his witness statement and whether it was carried out in his presence.

In addition, he asserted that he had seen what he believed to be manipulation of the Kogi State Bimodal Voter Accreditation System.

“You were present while the BVAS devices were also manipulated?” the attorney questioned him. Yes, in at least 20 polling places; I went to two senatorial districts, the witness replied.

The PDP witness said before the court that he was in the affected areas for three to five minutes.

Agada further claimed that INEC officials at the state level coerced him into signing the results.

He stated, “I was made to sign, but I protested because I would lose the copy for my party if I didn’t sign.”

He did, however, acknowledge that in his witness deposition, he left out mentioning the occurrence.

During cross-examination, he added that he had previously declined to sign comparable agreements when confronted with a supposedly identical situation since there had been no threat to withhold a copy for his party.

Solarin Adekunle, the Ogun State collation officer, claimed in his own testimony that he declined to sign the results in protest against electoral fraud.

He claimed that inflated election results led him to refuse to sign the result sheets.

The third witness, Uzoma Abonta, concurred, telling the court that there were several irregularities and violations of the election’s procedures.

The Labour Party’s objection to the results of the presidential election was also heard in court, together with that of Peter Obi, the party’s presidential candidate.

Six bundles of electoral records from six states were submitted by the LP and Obi, and the tribunal accepted them as evidence.

The legal team for the LP, headed by Chief Awa Kalu (SAN), notified the court that they would bring the Certified True Copies of the documents from 18 states, but they were only able to tender the documents from six states before the time allocated to them by the court was up.

The result sheets submitted came from the states of Rivers, Benue, Cross River, Niger, Osun, and Ekiti.

The petitions of Obi and Atiku were both postponed till today Friday for further hearings.