The first witness of the People Democratic Party on Thursday June 1, Joe Agada, has alleged that BVAS devices were manipulated in the last presidential election and that he was forced to sign the results as the state collation officer in Kogi State.

Punch reports that Agada who is a retired captain stated this during his cross-examination at the Presidential Election Petition Court where the outcome of the February 25 election is being challenged.

The trained pharmacist, who was identified by the counsel for the Independent National Electoral Commission and the cross-examiner, Abdullahi Aliyu SAN as a past witness in 2019 for the petitioners – PDP and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar – informed the court that he had the opportunity of visiting some polling units in some Local Government Areas.

When asked by INEC’s counsel about a purported manipulation of ballot papers and whether it was done in his presence, he answered in the affirmative. Agada also alleged that he was present while the BVAS devices were manipulated.

‘’You were present while the BVAS devices were also manipulated?” he said while affirming that he spent between 3 to 5 minutes in the affected areas.

Furthermore, Agada alleged that he was forced to sign the results at the state level by INEC’s officials. He also alleged that he had to sign the forms because failure to do so, he would have been denied a copy to his party.

‘’I was forced to sign which I protested because without signing I was going to be denied a copy to my party.”

He, however, admitted that he did not mention the incident in his witness deposition.

Credit: Punch