If you are yet to read the 66-page petition filed by Atiku Abubakar against INEC and Bola Tinubu, then you are missing out on valuable and shocking details that accompanied the 2023 presidential election.
These details in most cases cannot be noticed by ordinary voters at the polls. However, politicians in their quest for power will always notice it.
It is because that is their area of specialty.
Breakdown Of Atiku’s Petition
The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, says INEC deployed a third-party device during the presidential election.
The device was used to intercept and switch the results in favour of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu.
Atiku made the allegation in a 66-page petition he filed before the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) sitting at the Court of Appeal in Abuja.
The petition is marked CA/PEPC/05/2023.
Atiku and the PDP listed INEC as 1st respondent, APC as 2nd respondent and Tinubu as 3rd respondent.
He alleged that INEC, prior to the election, redeployed its in-house ICT expert, Chidi Nwafor.
They replaced him with an IT consultant, Suleiman Farouk.
Atiku says Farouk helped INEC to install the third-party mechanism.
He says Farouk ensured that the device intermediated between the BVAS and the IRev Portal, known as Device Management System (DMS).
He told the court that using the DMS Farouk was able to remotely control, monitor and filter data that was transmitted from the BVAS devices to the electronic collation system and the IRev platform.
Surprised? Relax, the story has just begun….
Non-Compliance
Atiku maintains that INEC, set the parameters of the poll that it did not keep.
Unfortunately they did not ensure compliance with the electronic transmission of accreditation data and results in the Election.
The aim was to create an opportunity for manipulation of figures to the advantage of Tinubu and the APC.
The PDP flagbearer said he will during the hearing of the petition, lead evidence to show that there were no technical glitches that prevented the upload and transmission of the polling units results and the accreditation data of the presidential election to the electronic collation system and the IReV portal”.
According to him, INEC, while releasing user privileges in respect of the National Assembly election windows, selectively withheld correct passwords and/or issued wrong passwords through the use of the Device Management System equipment.
Atiku argued that there was no failure of the server as claimed by INEC.
The petitioners said they would adduce evidence to show that the “server” being cloud-based, in the event of any unlikely challenge, Amazon Web Service would have seamlessly switched to another server without hitch, being autoscaling groups with multiple network reception and offline upload options.
Atiku say they would subpoena to appear before the court to testify the likes of PWC, expert witnesses in respect of the electronic collation system and the IReV portal.
Also, Kaspersky Endpoint Security (of Thornhill Office Park, Bekker Road, Midrand, South Africa), provided the system security for the BVAS and e-transmission system deployed by INEC and Globacom Nigeria Limited, the internet provider for the system deployed by the Commission.
Wrong Winner
Atiku argues that as of March 1 Tinubu was declared the winner of the election.
But the entire results and accreditation data from polling units had not been transmitted and uploaded by INEC.
On another leg of the petition, Atiku argued that Tinubu did not secure at least one-quarter of the votes cast in the presidential election in Abuja.
To him, “out of the total votes of 478,652 cast in the FCT, Abuja, Tinubu, was ascribed only 90,902 (18.99%) of the votes”.
Other Things Atiku Is Bringing Forward
“The Petitioners shall contend that to be declared duly elected, a candidate, in addition to obtaining not less than a quarter (25%) of the votes cast in at least two-thirds of all the States, must also receive at least one quarter (25%) of the votes cast in the FCT, Abuja.
This being an additional requirement introduced by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
“The said Constitution having clearly distinguished the FCT, Abuja, as a separate entity by the specific and express mention”.
“The Petitioners further aver that all over Nigeria there were manifest cases of over-voting.
“The total of the affected polling units in the various States are set out in the Statisticians Report pleaded and relied upon by the Petitioners”.
Atiku and the PDP, among other things, asked the court to hold that Tinubu was not duly elected by a majority of lawful votes cast in the election.
Also Read: Election: See States Defeated Candidates Are Rejecting Results
“Therefore the declaration and his return by INEC as the winner of the Presidential Election was unlawful, wrongful, unconstitutional, undue, null and void and of no effect whatsoever.”
Declare Atiku Winner
In the alternative, the petitioners want the court to declare that Atiku, scored the majority of lawful votes cast at the presidential election.
He should be returned as the winner of the said election and be sworn in as the duly elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
People Also Read: Nigerians React As Tinubu Jets Out For Medical Attention
They also want the tribunal to issue an order directing the INEC to conduct a second election (run-off) between the 1st Petitioner (Atiku) and the 2nd Respondent (Tinubu).
In their further alternative prayer, the petitioners urged the court to nullify the presidential election and order a re-run.
Indeed, Nigerians are in for great moments, when the Tribunal begins hearing.
