Cross Section of Lawyers at the Presidential Election Petition Court. Photo: Ifeoma Nwovu
Three Presiding Officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has told the Presidential Election Petition Court that the refusal of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to transmit the presidential election results on election day frustrated their jobs.
The Officers admitted that the results of the Senate and the House of Representatives were transmitted unhindered and that the problems of technical hitches arose at the point of transmitting only the presidential poll results.
Testifying on subpoena at the hearing of petitions challenging the outcome of the February 25 presidential election, the three witnesses admitted that the election process went well until the period the BVAS machines refused to work.
The three witnesses were Janet Nuhu Turaki, Christopher Bulus Ardo and Victoria Sani who served as INEC Presiding Officers at Yobe, Bauchi and Katsina States.
The trio were summoned by the Court through the joint application of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Abubakar Atiku to appear before it and give account of their experiences in relation to results transmission during the last presidential election.
Meanwhile, the Presiding Justice of the Court, Justice Haruna Tsammani has adjourned until Tuesday for continuation of hearing in the petition.
Reporting by Ifeoma Nwovu; Editing Hadiza Abdulrahman and Annabel Nwachukwu