INEC submitted 36 states BVAS results at tribunal that show Peter Obi won? Fact emerges

A report by Opera News claiming the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) submitted Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVA) results from 36 states showing that the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, won the February 25 elections, has been found to be misleading.

The report, with the headline "Tribunal: INEC Submitted 36 States BVAS Results That Show Peter Obi Won", cited Vanguard newspaper as the source of its claim.

"According to Vanguard News, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) confirmed President Bola Tinubu's eligibility for the president on Thursday by providing the Presidential Elections Petitions Court with his details. The 36 state BVAS results, which showed Mr Peter Obi to be in the lead, were also provided by INEC," the first paragraph of the Opera News report read.

On Thursday, June 15, INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, represented by Mrs Moronkeji Tairu,As reported by Vanguard, Yakubu, who has been subpoenaed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar's legal team, tendered Forms EC8D series, which were results of the presidential election from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja.

He also tendered Form EC8D(A), which was the final declaration of the result of the presidential election by INEC.

Yakubu’s representative further tendered extracts from BVAS machines in respect of Rivers state and the 36 states and FCT-certified copies of accreditation data from the BVAS.

However, nowhere in the Vanguard report was it mentioned that the 36 states' BVAS results tendered showered that Peter Obi won the February 25 presidential election.

Also, no reputable media platform reported the INEC's alleged tendering of BVAS results showing Obi won.

For instance, The Punch also reported that the INEC chairman, through Taira, tendered Tinubu’s biodata form, 36 states BVAS results at the tribunal but never stated that the results show the Labour Party presidential candidate won.

Similarly, Daily Trust reported that Yakubu’s representative, Tairu, submitted documents which include Form EC9 of President Bola Tinubu.

The Form EC9 is an affidavit in support of particulars of persons seeking election to the office of president or vice president.

The report added that the INEC boss tendered the BVAS report from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) but never stated that the report showed Obi won.

Also, Premium Times reported that Atiku’s lawyer, Chris Uche, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said Yakubu’s representative only tendered four of the eleven documents he requested from.

The tendered documents were; a copy of the final declaration of results for the presidential election, and certified true copies of BVAS machines report of the polls in Rivers and 36 other states, including the FCT.

He also tendered BVAS machines data reports of voters’ accreditation across all the states of the federation and Form EC9, which contained Tinubu’s biodata.

Six flash drives in a white envelope containing electoral documents from Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones were tendered.

In a nutshell, though INEC tendered BVAS results in 36 states, the details about who won or lost were not mentioned at the tribunal.

Also, the Vanguard link that the opera news cited did not state that the BVAS shows Peter Obi won.

The claim made in the report by Opera News has no evidence and is misleading.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng notes that INEC stands by its declared results which show President Bola Tinubu won the election.

According to the results, Tinubu polled 8,794,726 to defeat his closest rivals, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 6,984,520 and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) who scored 6,101,533.