INEC deliberately deleted FCT Presidential election results in BVAS, Forensic Expert tells Court
INEC deliberately deleted FCT Presidential election results in BVAS, Forensic Expert tells Court

INEC deliberately deleted FCT Presidential election results in BVAS, Forensic Expert tells Court

Hitler Nnwuala, a Digital Forensic Expert on Thursday told the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, deliberately deleted all the results of presidential elections in the Bimodal Verification Accreditation System,BVAS in Federal Capital Territory in the guise of preparation for the March 18, governorship election.

Constitutionally, the national electoral body knew that the BVAS was not going to be used for any Governorship election or any election for that matter because the territory had no provision for governor.

Led in evidence by Lead counsel for PDP, Chief Chris Uche, Nwala produced a Forensic Analysis report of 110 BVAS machines which he examined, alongside 6 annexure and certificate of compliance to the evidence act.

In his report, Nwala told the court that nothing was wrong with the BVAS machines deployed by INEC, but that all the results on the machines were deleted as at the time of his analysis.

He noted that although INEC said they would reconfigure the BVAS in preparation for the Governorship Election, results in the machines deployed to FCT Abuja on February 25, was also deleted.

Nwala however admitted not to have neither been in Abuja nor interviewed some Presiding Officers who participated in the election.

Chief Uche (SAN) tendered the Forensic Analysis Report with the 6 annexure and the Certificate of compliance as evidence in their case.

The Presiding Judge, Justice Haruna Tsammani admitted the documents as exhibits despite Objections by the respondents.

Nnwuala who is a subpoenaed witness to the court said during cross-examination that since there is a deviation in the small sample space of 110 samples analyzed that it is likely to increase as the number of sample size increases.

Chief Wole Olanikpekun, SAN counsel to Ahmed Tinubu, under cross examination of the witness faulted some identified errors in the forensic report to the which the author admitted.

Also, counsel to the INEC, Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, in his cross-examination faulted the small sample size used, pointing out that the sample size of 110 devices from a total of 3263 devices deployed during the election was only 3.5 percent of the total device deployed in FCT and 0.06 percent of total devices deployed in the country.

At the Thursday proceeding Atiku Abubakar tendered a certified true copy of INEC form EC8A of 20 local government areas of Ogun state, and of 17 local government areas of Ondo state.

Further evidence presented by Atiku to advance his petition against President Tinubu includes, certified True copy of form EC8A from 20 local government Areas of Rivers state.

All the respondents opposed the admissibility of the documents in court in support of the petitioner case and told the court they would give detail reasons for opposing the tendering of the documents in their final written addresses.

Meanwhile, the presidential election petition court has adjourned the hearing on the matter to Friday, 23.