A staff member of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mr Ikpong Inyang, on Thursday, told the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, that the petitioners’ 44th witness, William Ndarake, was an imposter.
The All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in the 2019 elections, Nsima Ekere, is challenging the re-election of Governor Udom Emmanuel of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Inyang, who was the Supervising Officer for Ward 4, Obot Akara Local Government Area, presented the list of presiding officers, supervisory presiding and polling unit booklet while testifying as a subpoenaed witness for the first respondent, Emmanuel.
He said the witness, who claimed to be an INEC ad hoc staff member and presented video evidence of massive fingerprinting for the PDP, was not on the list of ad hoc staff in the election.
Ndarake had alleged that as an Assistant Presiding Officer in Ward 4, Unit 005 in the Obot Akara LGA, he was abducted to the house of Senator Chris Ekpenyong and threatened at gunpoint to manipulate election results in support of the PDP.
He further alleged that he recorded the video of the abduction with his phone while the gunmen were still threatening to kill him if he failed to cooperate.
But the INEC worker, while being cross-examined by counsel for the PDP, Uko Udom (SAN), said another man in the video, whom Ndarake had claimed was the Presiding Officer for Unit 004, Ward 4 in Obot Akara, was also an alleged imposter.
According to Inyang, the Presiding Officer for that unit was a woman, Priscilla Ifeanyinwa.
He also identified Exhibit RSA564 as the result for Unit 004, which Ifeanyinwa signed as Presiding Officer.
The witness added that he was given the list of all the officials for the Obot Akara LGA and took attendance as the Supervisory Presiding Officer in Ward 4.
His testimony brought to an end the defence by the first respondent in the petition.
A digital forensic expert, Edidiong Udoh, had described the video evidence earlier tendered by the petitioners’ 44th witness, Mr William Ndarake, as an alleged scam stage-managed to mislead the tribunal.
In a related development, the Akwa Ibom State chapter of the Inter-party Advisory Council, comprising 65 political parties, on Thursday, said the call for the prosecution of the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr Mike Igini, was unfounded and coming from “a selfish minority part of the APC.”
According to the council, the elections were not only credible but transparent.
The state Legal Adviser, IPAC, Mfon Peters, who spoke to our correspondent in Uyo, lauded the REC for the electoral reforms he had brought to the state.
Peters said, “More than 60 political parties agreed that the elections were transparent and credible in Akwa Ibom State. Igini did not compromise the election.
“We are therefore passing a vote of confidence in Mike Igini that he is the first that has ever conducted the best election in the state. The call for Igini’s prosecution and investigation is unfounded and coming from a very selfish minority part of the APC.”