Tribunal: I was forced to sign presidential poll result in Kogi – PDP witness

The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji
Atiku Abubakar, on Thursday, called his witness to testify before the
Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, sitting in Abuja.

Atiku and his party are challenging the declaration of
President Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, as winner
of the presidential contest that held on February 25.

At the resumed proceedings of the court, Atiku’s first
witness, Capt. Joe Agada, retd, told the court that he served as the State
Collation Agent of the PDP in Kogi State, during the general election.

The witness, told the court that he was forced to sign
result of the presidential election by officials of the Independent National
Electoral Commission.

According to him, the INEC officials, vowed not to give him
a copy of the result to take back to his party, unless he signed the document.

Led in evidence by Atiku’s lead counsel, Chief Chris Uche,
SAN, the witness, maintained that result of the presidential election in Kogi
State, was rigged.

He told the court that in over 20 polling units he visited, he
observed how the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, machines, were
manipulated

He said: “My lords, apart from where I voted, which was at
Ogene- Oforachi village in Ogugu Ward in Kogi State, I also served as my
party’s State Collation Agent.

“I had a tag and a vehicle with a sticker that identified me
as being on election duty. The exemption tag which was issued to me by INEC,
allowed me to move around on the election day.

“I had the opportunity of visiting some highlighted polling
units in my LGA, even though I did not visit all the polling units.”

While being cross-examined by counsel for the Independent
National Electoral Commission, INEC, Mr. Abdullahi Aliyu, SAN, the witness said
it would be correct to say that he observed all the manipulations that took
place in Kogi state during the election.

“My lords, I am a witness of truth. I did not visit all the
polling units but I was present when BVAS in over 20 PUs were being manipulated
across the two Senatorial Districts that I visited.

“I may not be exact, but there are nothing less than 3500
polling units in Kogi State.

“I spent between three to five minutes in each of the
polling units that I visited,” the witness added.

Asked if agents of the PDP signed the result sheets, the
witness, said: “Yes, our agents signed the Forms EC8A, EC8B and EC8C.

“But they were forced to sign the results, especially in
Kogi state, because INEC said they would not give us copies unless we signed.”

Answering questions from one of the lawyers that appeared for
President Tinubu, Chief Akin Olujinmi, SAN, the witness, said the PDP had
agents in all the polling units in the state.

Asked if as the State Collation Agent of the PDP, he signed
the result sheet, he said: “My lords, I was forced to sign the state collection
result because without signing, they said they would deny me a copy to take to
my party.

“I thereafter protested and also wrote a petition to INEC,”
the witness told the court, even as he admitted that he served as State
Collation Agent for the PDP in 2015 and also appeared as a witness in the 2019
presidential election dispute between Atiku and former President Muhammadu
Buhari.

“In 2015, I refused to sign the result. But at that time,
INEC did not deny me a copy to take to my party. But this year, the INEC man
insisted that they would not give me a copy unless I signed the result,” Capt.
Agada, retd, added.