25% FCT votes: PDP witness says Atiku, Tinubu don’t merit to be President
A witness of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has told the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) that the party’s candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and his counterpart in the All Progressives Congress (APC), President Bola Tinubu, failed to meet the criteria to be declared President following the February 25 presidential poll.
The witness, Mohammed Babaji Madaki, who is also the chairman of the PDP in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), stated that Atiku and Tinubu did not get up to 25 per cent of total votes cast in the FCT.
During cross-examination by counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mohammed Aliyu, at the resumed hearing of the petitions on Monday, June 5, the witness affirmed that receiving 25 per cent of total votes cast in the FCT was a prerequisite for a candidate to be declared President.
When asked if his statement was merely his opinion, the witness clarified that it was based on constitutional provisions.
Responding to questions regarding whether his candidate, Atiku, had attained the required result in the FCT, the witness unequivocally stated, “My candidate did not score 25 per cent of votes in the FCT, according to the purported result published by INEC.”
When pressed further by Tinubu’s counsel, Akin Olujimi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), he insisted that despite not being a lawyer or mathematician, his assertion was grounded in the law.
Further cross examined by counsel to the APC, Lateef Fagbemi, (SAN), the witness, acknowledged that the FCT held equal significance to any other state in the country.
Also, another PDP witness told the court that the February 25 presidential election was marred by violence at collation centres in Rivers State.
The witness, Abiye Sekibo, a former minister, who served as the PDP state collation officer for Rivers State, said that he received reports of violence in Obiakpor, Ahoada East, and Ahoada West, but was prevented from reaching the party’s agents in Obiakpor.
He stated that his visits to 20 polling units in Okrika and communication with party agents from various polling units revealed that they were unable to upload results using the BVAS system.
During cross-examination by Tinubu’s counsel, Olujimi, Sekibo admitted that he did not collect the names of the INEC officials at the polling units.
Recall that Peter Obi, Presidential Candidate of Labour Party, polled over 25 percent in FCT during the February 25 election.
