Contrary to
reports that the data from the card reader was automatically uploaded from the
card reader to INEC ICT database in Abuja on election day, an Assistant
Director in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mrs Abimbola
Oladunjoye, has disclosed that it took more than six weeks after the
governorship election of April 11 for the information to be uploaded.
At
the resumption of hearing of the petition brought by APC’s Ortega Emerhor
against the election of Dr Ifeanyi Okowa as Delta State governor at the State
Election Tribunal, Mrs Oladunjoye shocked the court when she told the court
that “we had data upload span over about six weeks after election.” S
She
further raised doubts about the integrity of the INEC ICT Unit when she told
the Tribunal that the unit was manned by twelve different people with each
person having their individual passwords. The INEC Assistant Director then
presented two different results on the Delta Governorship election obtained
from the ICT server in Abuja.
Under
cross examination by Alex Iziyon (SAN), Counsel to Governor Okowa, Mrs
Oladunjoye said the servers “were shut down in June” on the orders of the INEC
Chairman Prof. Attahiru Jega even though the upload had not been concluded. The
following dialogue then ensued between the counsel and the INEC Assistant
Director who was called as witness by the APC.
Witness:
About six weeks after the election, servers were shut down
Counsel:
Did you reopen them again?
Witness:
No, we did not.
Counsel:
Can you remember the date of that shut down?
Witness:
No
Counsel:
As at that time had you finished your uploading?
Witness:
I can’t say if information was still coming in as at that time.
Mrs
Oladunjoye also told the Tribunal that “it was possible” all the results were
not uploaded adding that she did not have information as to how “many card
readers were transmitted and how many were not.” According to her, the card
readers were necessary only for the “purpose of identification (to check the
card brought by a person to the polling unit, verification (to verify that the
card is an INEC authentic card, and authentication after the card has been
verified.”
The
INEC Director insisted that the card reader was “for authentication different
from accreditation” which is done with the voters register. She told the
Tribunal that “the number of PVS collected in Delta State is 1, 939,952”.
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