INEC closes defence in Atiku, PDP’s petition challenging Tinubu’s victory

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Monday concluded its defence in the petition by Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC).
INEC’s lawyer, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), announced the closure after calling one witness and tendering some documents before
The sole witness, an Information Technology (IT) Practitioner with INEC, Dr. Lawrence Bayode, adopted his written testimony and was cross-examined by lawyers to the respondents and the petitioners.
Bayode, a Deputy Director in INEC’s IT Department, insisted that there were glitches experienced during the transmission of the presidential election results which affected the real-time transmission.
He added, among others, that whether or not results were electronically or manually transmitted cannot affect the integrity of the scores already captured in the polling unit results sheets (Form EC8A).
After Mahmoud announced the closure of his client’s case, the lawyer to Tinubu, Wole Olanipekun (SAN) informed the court that the second respondent (Tinubu) will open his defence on Tuesday.