Presidential poll: Atiku’s witness weeps under cross examination

Andrew Orolua , Abuja

Atiku Abubakar’s witness, Hon. Arume Ibrahim Yahaya, on Wednesday, wept in witness box while being cross examined by President Muhammadu Buhari’s counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) over his evidence on oath.

Mohammed, who served as the PDP agent for Aboto Ward in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State during the election, shed tears under cross-examination by President Muhammadu Buhari ’s lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), saying lives of people were being toyed with over politics.

Earlier, he had claimed that two persons were shot by All Progressives Congress thugs who invaded a polling unit in his ward on the day of the election.

He said the two victims were rushed to the hospital, but one of them died three days ago from the bullet wound.

He said he witnessed violence in the polling units where he ought to have voted, adding that he visited some units during the election but could not tell of the situation in the ones he did not visit.

“I ran away for my dear life. Where I did not visit, our agents told me they ran away for their dear lives, ” he said.

Yahaya also testified that the presidential election did not hold on February 23, 2019 in the 29 polling units in Aboto ward of Kogi State where he served as the PDP agent because of violence caused by APC thugs and some security personnel.

He said that as soon as the election materials arrived at the ward centre, the materials were set on fire by APC thugs who perceived that PDP will win in the ward because it is the stronghold of the PDP.

He said the PDP would have won in the ward had there been no violence in the ward.

Asked who won the House of Assembly election in the ward, the witness said: “It was House of Assembly election and they are challenging it in court.”

He broke down in tears when Olanipekun repeated the question to extract a more satisfactory answer.

“You people are just playing politics with peoples’ lives. People died,” he said.

It took about five minutes for the presiding justice of the five -man panel, Justice Mohammed Garba, to pacify him.

Reacting to the development, Olanipekun said: “We are used to people like him. My question had nothing to do with death.”

Under cross- examination by All Progressives Congress’ lawyer, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), the witness confirmed that the APC won in the 2015 elections in the ward.

“It may interest you to know that I was in APC during the election he is talking about. Had there been no violence, PDP would have won this election,” he added.

Aliyu Abdullahi, a ward collation agent also on Wednesday, told the presidential election petition tribunal that he was shocked when he heard results the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, released in two Wards in Nasarawa State where voters ran away owing to attacks by herdsmen.

Abdullahi, who appeared as the 52nd witness in the petition the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, said he was surprised when he heard during live broadcast of the presidential election, that “area where people were displaced due to communal clashes between Tiv people and Fulani herdsmen, produced results”.

According to him, “because of the clashes, people had to run away from the area”.

Under cross-examination, the witness told the tribunal that though the area was deserted, INEC retained two polling units in it.

He said as the Ward Collation Agent for the PDP during the presidential election, “I did not collect the result. I refused to sign it”.

He told the tribunal that other PDP agents that were posted to the two affected polling units are still alive.

Earlier in his own testimony, another Ward Collation agent from Karu Ward also in Nasarawa State, Dangana Barde, insisted that Atiku defeated President Buhari.