Some members of the adhoc staff of INEC have admitted to transmitting the result of the presidential election to the commission’s server – APC had challenged Atiku Abubakar’s claim that he obtained results from INEC server showing his victory over President Muhammadu Buhari – Standing as witnesses, some presiding officers of the commission claimed to have truly sent the presidential election result to the server Some presiding officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have admitted to transmitting the result of the February 23 presidential election to the commission’s server.
The INEC staff members numbering 13, who claimed to have served in Borno and Yobe, made the submission in their witness statement of oath before the presidential electoral tribunal, Atiku Abubakar, in his 139-page petition challenging the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari, had claimed to have obtained the results of the presidential election from INEC server. READ ALSO: 10 killed as NSCDC official drives vehicle into Easter parade in Gombe According to him, the results indicated that he defeat the president, contrary to the announcement made by the electoral umpire after the election. The All Progressives Congress (APC) had, however, tackled Atiku over his claim, with INEC in a reaction also saying Atiku’s figures were total fabrication.
Standing as witnesses before the panel, the presiding officers said they transmitted the results having received training and instruction on how to do so. One of the INEC staff members said: “I took part in the conduct of the presidential and National Assembly (Senate and House of Representatives) elections of 23rd February, 2019 where I served as the presiding officer (PO) and I ensured the use of the Smart Card Reader for accreditation, verification, authentication, collation and transmission of votes in my polling unit.”
“At the end of voting, the information on the Smart Card Reader with the results inclusive, were collated by me in the presence of the party agents and other ad-hoc staff of the 1st Respondent after which my Assistant Presiding Officer (AP0-1) transmitted the result electronically in my presence to the 1st Respondent’s server, using the Smart Card Reader (SCR) and the code provided by the 1st Respondent.” Another adhoc staff of the commission said: “I was employed as an ad hoc staff and trained for three days by the 1st Respondent at the Government College, Maiduguri, Bomo State to serve as a Presiding Officer (PO) at Waliri Polling Unit with Code 003, of Shehun Barna Ward, Bomo State on the 23rd February, 2019 Presidential and National Assembly (Senate and House of Representatives) elections.
President Muhammadu Buhari had insisted that he won the 2019 presidential election as against the claim being made by Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party. Atiku has challenged the outcome of the election claiming he was the rightful winner and has gone to court to challenge the results.