In a petition challenging the outcome of the 2023 presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, former vice president and candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party, has secured permission for five ad hoc members of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to testify as special witnesses. The members were involved in the disputed presidential election results and have been subpoenaed to appear before the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC). Atiku claims that the election was rigged in favor of President Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). According to Atiku's petition, INEC installed a third-party device that altered the election results in favor of the APC. He further alleges that INEC replaced its in-house ICT expert with an IT consultant who helped install the device. Atiku asserts that the device served as an intermediary between the Device Management System (DMS) and the IRev Portal, allowing manipulation of the results. The petitioners plan to present expert evidence supporting their claims. Lead counsel for the petitioners, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, has subpoenaed the five INEC ad hoc staff members as witnesses and to present sensitive materials in evidence. However, INEC's attorney, Mr. Abubakar Mahmood, SAN, has raised objections, requesting time to review the witness statements and verify the identities of the observers. The court has deferred further proceedings until Thursday to accommodate INEC's internal investigation. During the proceedings, certified copies of presidential election results from 10 local government areas in Kogi State were presented, along with Mr. Ndubuisi Nwobu, Chairman of the PDP in Anambra state, as the eleventh witness. Nwobu testified that the election results were not uploaded to INEC's IRev portal in real time in several polling places. Atiku is seeking the cancellation of President Tinubu's Certificate of Return and a declaration that he was the legitimate winner of the presidential election.
