Edo Election Tribunal: PDP’s star witness unveils alleged massive irregularities, over-voting

The Edo Governorship Election Petition Tribunal resumed today with a dramatic turn as the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) star witness, identified as PW12, delivered a damning testimony exposing alleged widespread irregularities in the September 21, 2024, governorship election.

The witness, a data analyst and director of research and strategy for the PDP governorship candidate, Asue Ighodalo, presented forensic evidence to challenge the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) declaration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Monday Okpebholo, as the winner.

The tribunal, sitting in Abuja, was gripped by the witness’s meticulous breakdown of electoral documents, including BVAS accreditation reports, IReV results, agent duplicate copies of results, and certified INEC forms.

His analysis pointed to alleged over-voting and incorrect collation in 445 polling units, alongside purportedly invalid results from an additional 320 polling units due to INEC’s failure to comply with section 2.3.6 of its Manual for Election Officials.

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While presenting his testimony, the witness cited INEC’s election manual, which mandates officials to record serial numbers of sensitive materials, such as result sheets and BVAS machines, in Form EC25B before distribution. He alleged that this crucial step was overlooked.

“My Lord, this requirement was also clearly outlined in the Electoral Act. Their failure to complete these forms renders the results from 320 polling units invalid,” he stated emphatically.

As he spoke, the tension in the tribunal room escalated, with APC’s legal team vigorously attempting to discredit his claims.

During a heated cross-examination by APC’s counsel, E.U. Ukala, the witness was asked if INEC had successfully uploaded all polling unit results to the IReV portal. His response was swift and pointed:

“That is patently false, my Lord. INEC uploaded only 4,466 out of 4,519 results. They failed to upload 53 polling unit results, so your statement is incorrect.”

Further efforts by the respondents’ counsels to question his credibility backfired when they suggested he could not speak authoritatively about polling unit results since he was not physically present. The witness countered calmly but firmly:

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“My Lord, as the director of research and strategy, I set up the first petitioner’s situation room, where I collected and stored the results. Besides, counsel himself referred to 16 agent polling unit results, noting that three were not stamped.

Counsel was not at any polling unit either, yet his review revealed inconsistencies. Similarly, my findings are based on a comprehensive examination of documents that clearly show over-voting, missing mandatory forms, and improper collation in a total of 765 polling units.”

The tension reached its peak when the witness declared: “Ighodalo won the election—this fact is available to anyone with access to the documents.”

This assertion visibly unsettled the respondents’ legal team, stirring murmurs in the courtroom.

A mild drama ensued when APC’s lawyer questioned the authenticity and certification date of the BVAS reports. In response, the witness clarified that the documents were generated on election day, months before certified extracts were obtained from INEC earlier this month.

This response seemingly caught the counsel off-guard, prompting him to abruptly end his cross-examination.

Following the intense session, the tribunal adjourned proceedings to January 30, 2025. Meanwhile, the PDP camp, led by Edo PDP Chairman Anthony Aziegbemin, erupted in celebrations over what they described as a “flawless” performance by their star witness.