The Judges of the Election Tribunal knew that allowing the testimony and expert evidence of the subpoena Witnesses will collapse the Respondents hence they raised a strange Principle of law for the first time in our Legal History requiring the Written depositions of the subpoena Witness to be attached to a Petition. That is odoriferous and a total departure of our rules pertaining to front loading. The Court erred in law when they submitted that the BVAS Machine and transmission of result has no legal backing as same is never stipulated in the Electoral Act, 2022.
The major reason for the amendment of the Electoral Act, 2022 was to bringing transmission of Election results using BVAS and IREV. Section 64 and 66 gave the Electoral Umpire the power to make guidelines thus the provision for the use of BVAS was clearly provided for in INEC Guidelines which has the force of law. Inec made it known to all Nigerians that the BVAS Machine is a game Changer and lured Nigerians into believing that the process will be devoid of Election Malpractices.
We all know how INEC bragged about the use of BVAS. The Petitioner tendered video evidence to this effect but the Tribunal ignored all these avalanche of evidence by employing Technical Justice of dismantling the credibility of the Pw1 to Pw13 by saying that the Written depositions of a Sopoaen Witness must be attached to the Petition.
This is very bizarre and fraudulent on the part of my Lords. It is a complete aberration and a shame to so hold. My Lords already knew that the tendering of the blurred form EC8A and other manipulative documents would of done a serious puncture or damage for the Respondents but meander their way to support the Respondents.
My Lords obviously did the work of the defence Attorneys and succeeded in demolishing all the Written depositions of all the Petitioner Witnesses. This is so out of line and unjust. In the immortal words of Nikki Tobi JSC “Technical Justice has her praise Singers, but it will crush the very purpose of law, substantive Justice “
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