PEPTribunal: INEC officials collected $10,000 to manipulate results for Buhari in Nasarawa, witness alleges

A Ward Collation Agent, Bikita Ali, on Tuesday, alleged before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, that an official of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, collected $10, 000 to change result of the February 23 presidential election in Nasarawa State, in favour of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Ali, who appeared as the 43rd witness in the petition the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, lodged to challenge the declaration of President Buhari as winner of the presidential contest, told the tribunal that the INEC officer whose name he gave as Abubakar Kaura, was arrested and handed over to the police.

While being cross-examined by counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Mr. Yunus Usman, SAN, the witness said: “The matter was later referred to the State CID. I was there when the official was caught. The incident happened at the Lafia Local Government collation center.

“It was when we collected our result from the Unit, down to the Ward and to the Collation Center that this happened”.

Asked if the INEC officer was alive and has been prosecuted, the witness said he was not aware. He said his attention was drawn to one polling unit where he went and confirmed that the Smart Card Reader was missing and the INEC official resorted to Manual accreditation and collection of phone numbers and details of voters. The witness further alleged that INEC officials refused to receive result of the Local Government where Atiku won.