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Osun: APC obtained incomplete BVAS report – Ex-INEC director
A former Director of Voter Education and Publicity of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, has thrown more light on the election petitions tribunal judgment that sacked Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party as the winner of the 2022 governorship election in the state.
The Osun State Election Petitions Tribunal had on Friday ruled and nullified the election of Adeleke and directed INEC to withdraw his certificate of return and issue a new one to Adegboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress.
But during an appearance on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, Osaze-Uzzi said the discrepancy in the 2022 Osun State governorship election, as it related to the BVAS, was owing to the fact that the APC obtained an incomplete report upon which the judgement was based.
“The second member [of the tribunal] – the Honourable Justice who dissented from his two colleagues – said, ‘I would rather use the primary source of this information, and the primary source of this data is actually the machine itself.
“It is basically a computer. So, rather than go to the server where it transmitted data, I would use the printout from the machine itself,” he said.
He added, “The machines were tendered, so were the reports from the server, and there ought not to have been a discrepancy, but somewhere along the line, not all the data had been transmitted at the time the APC obtained the certified copy of the initial server report.”
“It was BVAS that exposed that as it were, and the fact that the BVAS report was relied on. But we have to be careful; which of the BVAS reports was relied on? Was it what was transmitted to the server – to the backend – or was it the BVAS itself?”, he further stated.
He said there was a need to break the verdict of the tribunal, adding that the majority of the tribunal members – “the chairman and the second member” – relied on the initial report and the initial report of the backend, duly certified by INEC.
Osaze-Uzzi explained that the APC obtained a certified copy of the initial server report the remaining data was transmitted by the BVAS hardware.
“It was downloaded from the server [after it was] transmitted. But a couple of days later – INEC used the word ‘synchronised’, I’m not too sure I like that word, but – you synchronise it and say, ‘Have all the results been transmitted – has all data been transmitted from the machine, BVAS itself, to the server?’
“The machine is a physical one and then it transmits to a physical one. It now went, checked and said, ‘There’s a problem here.’ The BVAS report now downloaded itself, [we] now brought it out and examined each BVAS machine and now found out that no, some data was not transmitted to the server,” the ex-INEC director said.
Osaze-Uzzi, however, encouraged stakeholders to be optimistic about the use of BVAS as it exposed the over-voting in the election as ruled by the tribunal, describing the judgement as a validation of the role BVAS has played in enhancing the electoral process.
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo Olu has urged businesses and organizations across Lagos to explore flexible work arrangements, including remote work and hybrid models, pending the complete repairs of the Independence Bridge.
During the governor’s visit to the bridge this morning, Sanwo Olu noted that a temporary shift in work culture can go a long way in reducing traffic pressure and supporting our collective well-being.
He apologised to Lagosain for the inconvinences experienced on the road yesterday noting that the decison to fix the Independence Bridge was not made overnight.
” I sincerely apologise to all Lagosians for the severe traffic congestion experienced yesterday. I understand the frustration, delays, and disruption this has caused in your daily lives. As someone who also moves through this city, I feel your pain, and we do not take your patience and resilience for granted.”
“The decision to fix the Independence Bridge was not made overnight. This repair has been in the works for over three years, carefully planned to avert a potential disaster. The structural integrity of the bridge had deteriorated, and delaying this intervention any further would have put lives at risk.”
” While this repair is necessary for the safety of all, I acknowledge the burden it has placed on commuters. We are working closely with all relevant agencies to improve traffic management, and find immediate solutions to ease the congestion.”
” I assure you that we are not just watching from the sidelines; we have deployed additional traffic monitoring officials and security personnel to ensure traffic flows freely.
I also want to urge businesses and organisations across Lagos to explore flexible work arrangements, including remote work and hybrid models. A temporary shift in work culture can go a long way in reducing traffic pressure and supporting our collective wellbeing.”
” Let us embrace innovative solutions that keep our city moving while we carry out critical infrastructure repairs. Together, we can build a more resilient, responsive, and liveable Lagos.
Lagosians, I ask for your continued patience and cooperation. Your safety remains our priority, and we are committed to ensuring that our city remains not only a hub of progress but also a place where infrastructure serves the people effectively.”
Following the traffic loggjam in Lagos yesterday, many Lagosians either got to their offices very late or arrived at their homes mid midnight.
The sudden road closure caused pain to many Lagosians. Some news platforms reported this morning that the road works have been suspended because of the terrible traffic yesterday.
Rape charges: Nigerian pastor acquitted after eight years in South African jail
But Naija Gatekeeper News visited the site this morning for an update. It was confirmed that there was no work suspension as the bridge has been pulled down.
See the video below
After eight years in prison, a Nigerian televangelist accused of raping young women in his South African church was found not guilty of all counts.
Timothy Omotoso disputed the 32 counts in a live trial that drew widespread attention across the country.
In 2018, one witness testified in court that she had been raped by the pastor, who headed a church in Port Elizabeth, when she was 14.
When announcing the decision on Wednesday, the trial judge stated that Mr. Omotoso was found not guilty because prosecutors mishandled the case.
South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) shared a similar assessment, saying that “former prosecutors in the case acted improperly and the accused were not sufficiently cross-examined by the state”.
The NPA said it would now “consider its legal options” and that the drawn-out nature of the trial was partly down to Mr Omotoso filing numerous legal challenges.
For his part, Mr Omotoso told the media he thanked God for the verdict.
Hi co-accused, Lusanda Sulani and Zikiswa Sitho, were also found not guilty.
Mr Omotoso was dramatically arrested at an airport in 2017 as he sought to leave the country.
His trial was the first prominent rape case to be broadcast live in a country where sexual violence is rampant.
The hearings attracted huge interest, and raised difficult questions about victims’ rights, impartiality and whether justice is best served by having television cameras in courtrooms.
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