Petitioners’ Witness 62, Osita Chidoka, who served as the Peoples Democratic Party’s collation agent at the National Collation Centre for the February 23, 2019 presidential election, told the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal on Friday that he had never seen the server of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
But he said that INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, consistently told them about the server and also acknowledged its existence during the collation of the presidential election.
The witness who also said he served as the head of the PDP’s situation room in Abuja where he was during the election receiving reports from the party’s agent, spoke under cross-examination by INEC’s lawyer, Yunus Usman (SAN).
He said, “I have not seen the server but INEC consistently told us of the server and the INEC Chairman at the national collation of results of the election acknowledged the existence of the server.”
When asked, he said, “I was there when the results were collated.”
He acknowledged that the collation was done manually.
Earlier, the PDP and its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, had presented the former Aviation Minister as their 62nd witness at the Tribunal.
Introducing the witness to the bench and the respondents’ lawyers at the Friday’s proceedings, the petitioners’ counsel, Chris Uche (SAN), described Chidoka as a”star witness” for the petitioners.
Chidoka served as the PDP’s national collation agent at the national collation centre for the February 23, 2019 presidential election.
He also served as the head of the PDP’s situation room for the election.
The petitioners are by their petition filed before the Justice Mohammed Garba-led five-man tribunal challenging the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari at the poll.
Punch
