THE Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC) has admitted a report from an employee of Amazon Web Services Incorporated, United States, showing that the server of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had no glitches on election day.
This report focuses on the condition of the Amazon Web server (AWS), which served as the backbone for INEC’s digital infrastructure during the presidential election. It aims to provide crucial details regarding the server’s functionality and potential glitches that could have impacted the e-transmission of results.
One notable excerpt from the report reveals that there were no malfunctions that could have hindered the electronic transmission of results on February 25, 2023, the day of the presidential election.
The report was introduced as evidence by the Labour Party through its subpoenaed witness, Claretta Ogar, who identified herself as a cloud engineer and architect, during the resumed hearing of the petition on Monday, June 19.
The Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani-led tribunal, admitted the document despite objections raised by President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and INEC.
A total of six copies were submitted to the court.
The cross-examination of the witness has been scheduled to take place on Tuesday, June 20.
INEC had assured Nigerians that it would expeditiously upload polling unit results directly through the IREV portal as part of its guidelines for the 2023 presidential election. However, on the day of the election, electoral officials encountered difficulties in uploading the results from the polling units to the commission’s portal.
The situation triggered significant suspicions and unrest among supporters of the frontrunner candidates in the election. NEC would later release a statement attributing the incident to technical glitches on February 26, several hours after the conclusion of the election in several parts of the country.
The delayed upload of presidential election results from polling units by INEC is one of the reasons Obi is challenging Tinubu’s declaration as the winner of the election.
In their petition, Obi and the LP argued that when Tinubu’s running mate, Kashim Shettima, became the vice presidential candidate, he was still nominated as the APC candidate for the Borno Central senatorial election.
They also challenged Tinubu’s eligibility, alleging that he was previously indicted and fined $460,000.00 by a United States District Court for an offence involving dishonesty and drug trafficking.
Obi, who came third according to results announced by INEC, claimed that the election was invalid due to corrupt practices and non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.
He argued that INEC breached its regulations and guidelines by not prescribing and deploying technological devices for voter accreditation, verification, continuation, and authentication as required.
The petitioner sought a declaration from the court that Tinubu was not qualified to contest the election and that all votes recorded for him were wasted.
He also requested the court to determine that he received a majority of lawful votes and satisfied constitutional requirements to be declared the winner.
In the alternative, he called for the cancellation of the election and the conduct of a fresh election in which Tinubu, Shettima, and the APC would not participate.
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