PDP Star Witness Admits Inflated Election Results At Nasarawa Governorship Tribunal

Drama unfolded at the ongoing Governorship Election Tribunal in Lafia, Nasarawa State, as the star witness from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) confessed to inflating certain election results during his testimony on Thursday.

Barrister Ayiwulu Baba Ayiwulu, the witness, surprisingly acknowledged that his party had manipulated certain figures in the previous state election.

His statement came to light during his cross-examination by the counsels representing the respondents – Adebayo Adelodu, SAN, for Governor Abdullahi Sule, Ishaka Muddie Dikko, SAN, for INEC, and Mathew Burkah, SAN, for the APC….CONTINUE READING

Ayiwulu, who had served as the State Collation Agent during the March 18 governorship election, conceded that discrepancies between figures in a sworn document presented by his party and those recorded by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) might have resulted from human error.

The witness acknowledged that from the BVAS screenshots submitted as evidence, the APC’s votes in Polling Unit 022 were adjusted from 293 to 45 votes, while the PDP’s score was inflated from 73 to 144 votes.

He further stated that the APC’s count of 169 votes was inaccurately documented as 167 votes. Similar discrepancies were reported for other polling units.

Ayiwulu expressed confidence that the true vote tallies could be determined by the tribunal based on the exhibits available.

INEC’s legal representative questioned the authenticity of some PDP agents who had acted as witnesses for the petitioners, suggesting they were not properly accredited.

In response, Ayiwulu clarified that even though their names were not initially sent to INEC, they were uploaded to INEC’s portal before the commission’s stipulated deadline.

The prosecution’s lead counsel, Jibrin Samuel Okutepa SAN, attempted to introduce two more documents produced by the State INEC Chief Engineer ICT Department, Godwin Udong Idioh. However, the respondents’ counsels objected to their admissibility.

Following these proceedings, Okutepa requested to close their case, a motion approved by the tribunal’s chairman, Justice Ezekiel Ajayi.

The hearing is scheduled to resume on Friday to allow the respondents to present their defenses.

The initial results declared Governor Abdullahi Sule of the APC as the winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship election with 347,209 votes.

Nonetheless, the PDP’s candidate, David Umbugadu, contested the outcome, alleging irregularities by the commission. He approached the tribunal, seeking to reverse INEC’s decision and declare himself the rightful winner.