The Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal in Abuja was told on Tuesday that the ballot papers for the Presidential poll last year were received by the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC on June 1, 2007 from the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC).
This was contained in the final address of Action Congress (AC) Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, as presented through his counsel, Alfred Kasumu, Ricky Tarfa, and Emeka Ngige.
Kasumu argued that “there is a final twist in the saga relating to the printing of the ballot papers which the court must of necessity countenance in deciding whether or not to invalidate the Presidential elections conducted by the INEC and its Chairman, Maurice Iwu, bearing in mind that the ballot paper is the key document used by voters to exercise their right to vote for a candidate of their choice.
“From the evidence before it as disclosed by exhibit EPs3 #103 #12(1), Form EC8E, a total 35,397,627 registered voters purportedly exercised their rights to vote at that election. Which ballot papers did these voters use in exercising their right to vote? By the reply of the INEC and Iwu they could only have done this by ballot papers printed in South Africa, according to paragraph 7(d)vii) of their reply.
“If it is so, then the 4th and 5th respondents must explain to the court how the ballot papers with the imprint of the (NSPMC) found their way into the ballot papers.
“Clearly, if there are controversies surrounding the source of the ballot paper, the format of the ballot paper and the quantity of the ballot paper, these issues cannot be swept under the carpet by the court as they are the key issues for the validation or invalidation of the election.”
Kasumu said contrary to claims by Iwu that the INEC will give account of the quantity of ballot papers printed and distributed, the form EC40 series tendered showed that the Commission is incapable of giving such an account.
As seen from the list of documents tendered, he stressed, the INEC could not make available for certification form EC40 series in 19 states: Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Kastina, Kwara, Nassarawa, Niger, Osun, Oyo, Rivers, Taraba, and Adamawa.
“We submit that the deliberate use of non serialised ballot papers by INEC and Iwu for the conduct of the presidential elections is enough reason to invalidate the said election.
“Iwu knew that two sets of unserialised ballot papers were used, the 65 million unserialised ballot papers ordered from South Africa and another 65 million unserialised ballot papers ordered from the NSPMC, with the exact quantity received and used unknown. Nothing can be more fraudulent than this.”
In his own submission, INEC counsel, Kanu Agabi, argued that the petition of Muhammadu Buhari cannot stand because he and his running mate, Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, and their All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) had withdrawn from the petition.
He said there are 36 states in the country and the Federal Capital Territory, but that the petition was filed in respect of only four states.
He noted that the petitioner is challenging elections in only 11 states.
Buhari�s counsel, Mike Ahamba, countered that the main issue is whether the results of the election were arbitrarily assigned or whether they arose from the election conducted by the INEC.
In his own argument, Yar�Adua�s counsel, Wole Olanipekun, noted that the witnesses in the petition are mainly from Imo State.
“An election of this magnitude can�t be voided on the evidence of hear-say. No man is omnipotent. They are not God. They did not use any periscope to know what happened in other parts of the country,” he added.
Arguing against the petition of Atiku, Olanipekun said no person has complained of being disenfranchised, adding that no single used ballot paper has been tendered to show how ballot papers were arbitrarily thumb-printed.
His words: “No single snatched ballot box has been tendered ….The petitioner scored 100 percent in Lagos and did not challenge it. They are challenging the election where Yar”Adua won almost 100 per cent. Atiku wants the election to be decided on the whims, caprices, and sentiments of the observers.”
However, it was disclosed that Iwu instructed the NSPMC on April 17 last year to produce the ballot papers without serial numbers and without photographs.
As argued by Kasumu, the tribunal refused to admit in evidence, the INEC�s final report on the election.
The tribunal adopted the briefs, but reserved ruling indefinitely.