According to Mr. Hitler Nwala, a witness for the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Nwala results on all 110 BVAS machines he inspected were deleted.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the witness who appeared before the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) in Abuja on Thursday testified as an expert witness in the petition challenging the outcome of the February 25 presidential election.
Mr. Nwala, a subpoenaed witness, was led by the petitioner’s lead counsel, Mr. Chris Uche, SAN, Nwala.
He clarified that the machines he inspected belonged to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) alone. As a Digital Forensic Analyst, Nwala admitted not knowing when the results were deleted from the machines.
During cross-examination by Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Nwala confirmed using a standard device for the examination.
When questioned about his authority to attach an external device to the BVAS machine, the witness affirmed that he had the commission’s authorisation.
Mahmoud then drew attention to the fact that Nwala’s examination of only 110 machines out of the total 3,163 deployed in the FCT represented a mere 3.4 percent of the BVAS machines in the FCT and 0.06 percent nationwide. In response, Nwala clarified that he was responsible for compiling the report and had not calculated the percentages.
Attempting to challenge the witness’s claim of deleted results, Mahmoud offered a BVAS machine for Nwala to inspect in court. However, the witness declined, citing ethical considerations of his profession. Nwala explained that accessing a device used as evidence in a court of competent jurisdiction would tamper with the evidence—instead, the proper procedure involved extracting the evidence and subjecting it to analysis.
Nwala also noted that since all the BVAS devices had the same model and appearance, he couldn’t determine if the machine presented in court was one of those he inspected merely by looking at it.
In response to Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, counsel to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nwala clarified that he and his team members did sign the six-volume forensic report, despite Fagbemi’s claim to the contrary.
Later, Mr. Wole Olanipekun, SAN, representing President Bola Tinubu, confronted Nwala with a section of his report stating that based on his inspection, “nothing was intrinsically wrong with them” (referring to the machines). Olanipekun questioned how Nwala, who was not present in Abuja on the day of the presidential election, could assert that nothing went wrong with the machines. The witness acknowledged that he was not in Abuja during the election and, therefore could not have firsthand knowledge of any issues.
After Nwala’s discharge, the petitioners proceeded to submit Forms EC8A series from various local government areas in Ogun, Ondo, Jigawa, and Rivers as evidence. Justice Haruna Tsammani, the court’s chairman, adjourned the hearing until Friday.
