On Tuesday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) submitted 21 Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) machines to the Kano State Governorship Election Tribunal. These machines were utilized in 21 polling stations across 10 Local Government Areas (LGAs), namely Tudun-Wada, Gaya, Gezawa, Bunkure, Bebeji, Ungogo, Ajingi, Warawa, Karaye, and Garko.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the All Progressives Congress (APC), the petitioner, had filed a petition on April 9 contesting the declaration of Abba Kabir-Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) as the winner of the gubernatorial election held on March 18, 2023.
The respondents in this case include INEC, Abba Kabir-Yusuf, and the NNPP.
Earlier, on June 6, the tribunal granted the petitioner’s request to access and inspect the BVAS machines used by INEC during the governorship election. During the ongoing proceedings, INEC’s Counsel, E.A. Oshayomi, presented Mr. Ocheka, an INEC employee, to the court to introduce the machines.
Ocheka informed the court that the BVAS machines required special protection, as they needed codes from China to reactivate once their batteries were depleted.
“Owing to safety reasons, let me go back with the BVAS to the INEC office and whenever the court needs them I will bring them back,” Ocheka said.
Nureini Jimoh (SAN), the petitioner’s counsel, submitted the 21 BVAS machines to the tribunal as supporting evidence for their petition and opposed their return to INEC.
Mr. R. A. Lawal, the counsel for Kabir-Yusuf, and Mr. John Baylesha, the counsel for the NNPP, did not object to the admission of the BVAS machines as evidence.
“Once the petitioner tendered the machines, it is now left for the tribunal to decide where to keep them for safety reasons,” he said.
NAN has stated that the petitioner has already brought forth eighteen witnesses to testify in court in support of their case.
