By Miracle Ogunde
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday presented 148 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices from 133 polling units before the Edo State Governorship Election Tribunal sitting in Abuja.
A senior technical officer from INEC’s ICT department, Anthony Itodo, tendered the devices while appearing before the tribunal following a subpoena issued on 9 January.
He stated, “My Lord, I brought 148 BVAS devices used in 133 polling units.”
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Asue Ighodalo, who contested the 21 September 2024 gubernatorial election, had dragged INEC, Governor Monday Okpebholo, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) before the tribunal, challenging the election results.
Itodo explained that some polling units had two BVAS machines.
Upon the presentation of the devices, petitioners’ counsel, Robert Emukpoeruo (SAN), pointed out a discrepancy, noting that the INEC official had previously stated that 151 BVAS machines were brought, not 148. He urged the court to conduct a count to verify the exact number.
He said, “My Lords, the subpoenaed INEC staff repeatedly told us there were 151 BVAS machines, and now he says it is 148. I appeal to the court to have the secretary count the BVAS devices.”
Emukpoeruo further demanded that the BVAS machines be removed from their boxes, insisting that only the devices, not the boxes, were requested.
Meanwhile, counsel for Okpebholo and the APC, Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) and Emmanuel Ukala (SAN), opposed the petitioners’ arguments, stating that the INEC official was not a sworn witness and was only required to tender the documents.
INEC’s counsel, Kanu Agabi (SAN), clarified to the tribunal that “there are 151 BVAS units, but only 148 were requested, and only 148 relate to the election.”
Following this clarification, Emukpoeruo applied for the BVAS devices to be tendered from the bar. Agabi objected, while Okpebholo and the APC also opposed the request. Despite their objections, the tribunal, led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, admitted the BVAS machines into evidence.
Witness Testimonies
Earlier, Petitioner Witness Thirteen (PW-13), Eseigbe Victor, a 43-year-old farmer and politician from Uneme in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area, took the stand and adopted his witness statement as evidence.
Under cross-examination by INEC’s counsel, PW-13 revealed that he did not sign Form EC8B for Ward 9 in Akoko-Edo. When asked for evidence of his participation in the election process, he stated: “As the ward agent for Ward 9, Akoko-Edo, I have my tag as the ward chairman, and when the election was going on, I noticed the incorrect collation, which is why I did not sign it.”
He stated that there are 36 polling units in Ward 9 and that he received unit results from polling unit agents. He added, “My evidence is based on those documents I received from my agents.”
Although he acknowledged receiving oral reports from polling unit agents, he admitted that they were not incorporated into the documents, though they were signed by the agents. PW-13 noted that while the election was fairly conducted at the unit level, his concerns were about irregularities at the collation stage.
PDP’s lead counsel, Ken Mozia (SAN), tendered PW-13’s agent tag to the tribunal. However, all three respondents opposed its admission, arguing that the cross-examination did not touch on the tag. Despite their objections, the tribunal admitted the tag into evidence, declaring: “Witness PW-13 agent card admitted in evidence as Exhibit B10.”
PW-13 was then discharged, and Petitioner Witness Fourteen (PW-14), Uyigun Imasuen from Oredo LGA, took the stand.
Imasuen, a farmer, confirmed signing his witness statement on oath and adopted it before the tribunal. Mozia also submitted PW-14’s agent card for admission, which respondents’ counsel opposed. However, the tribunal provisionally admitted the card into evidence.
The witness confirmed that Ward 1 of Oredo LGA had 72 polling units and that he was the party agent for all of them. He stated that he received result sheets from the party agents at the units.
Under cross-examination, Ikpeazu (SAN) challenged the authenticity of the witness’s statement, arguing that he was not in Benin when the election was held. However, Imasuen refuted the claim, stating: “I was fully in Benin. My family is in Benin, and I signed the statement on 11 October.”
Ikpeazu requested that the witness sign his signature five times on a plain sheet to verify the authenticity of his signed statement. Upon signing, Mozia objected to the document’s admission, stating that his reasons for the objection would be reserved.
Despite the objection, the tribunal admitted the signed sheet as evidence.
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