The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in Edo State, Anthony Aziegbemin, has expressed surprise at the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) objection to the submission of its Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines at the Edo State Governorship Election Tribunal.
It was reported that on Thursday, January 30, a Senior Technical Officer from INEC’s ICT Department, Mr. Anthony Itodo, presented 148 BVAS machines, followed by an additional five machines on Monday.
However, INEC, the All Progressives Congress, and Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo, as respondents in the petition, raised objections through their legal representatives.
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In a statement to the press on Monday in Abuja, Aziegbemin questioned INEC’s actions, describing their objection to the submission of their own certified documents as “an objection that doesn’t add up.”
He said, “Is it not strange? You conducted an election, you certified documents for the petitioners, and now, when the petitioners want to tender these documents, you object to them and say you will give reasons later.
“I can understand Okpebholo and the APC objecting, but for INEC to object to its own documents being tendered in court, I think it is strange.
“This gives us and Nigerians something to think about: why would INEC oppose the documents it certified to the petitioners being tendered in open court? I believe the tribunal will look into this and see why they are objecting. Though they said they would give reasons at the address stage, it is strange. It doesn’t add up.”
Aziegbemin expressed confidence in the judiciary, stating that he believes the tribunal will give proper consideration to the testimonies and evidence presented by the petitioners, the PDP and Asuerime Ighodalo.
He also explained that many of their witnesses were collation and ward agents, as the majority of their complaints and dissatisfaction with the election stemmed from issues at those levels.
“We are confident. We think we have presented our witnesses to substantiate our case, which is principally about the elections held at the 4,519 polling units in Edo State.
“At the polling unit level, we do not have major issues, except for a few places. The issues began manifesting with the connivance of INEC at the ward and local government collation levels.
“That is why most of our witnesses were collation agents and ward collation agents, who corroborated the evidence and documents we tendered.
“We believe this case is straightforward, documentary-based, and specific. We expect the judiciary to give due cognisance to what we have presented before them,” he stated.
Aziegbemin further noted that this petition was different from those seen in the past in Nigeria, where an excessive number of witnesses were called without necessity.
“We didn’t need to call a lot of witnesses. We called those we needed to make our case solid and straightforward.”
He emphasized that the judiciary now possesses all the necessary evidence and documentation, and they anticipate a thorough review leading to a fair decision.
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