I signed under duress- Atiku’s witness says Peter Obi didn’t win in Nasarawa

Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s (LP) presidential candidate for the general elections of 2023, did not win in Nasarawa State, according to Ibrahim Hamza, a witness for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate Atiku Abubakar. He made this statement to the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC).

Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress was Obi’s closest rival in the election of February 25 and received 172,922 votes. Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party received 147,093 votes.

The witness, who served as the PDP’s State Collation Agent (SCA) during the election, asserted that if the election had been free and fair, Obi would not have won his state.

He claimed to have signed the result sheet under duress and confirmed that by the scores allocated to parties by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Obi won the state.

Hamza said: “I am not happy with the result. I don’t want the court to accept this result. Labour Party cannot come first in Nasarawa State. That is impossible..we have the authentic result. It is with the National Collation Agent (of the PDP).”

When asked if the said National Collation Agent was still alive, the witness said he did not know.

Hamza revealed that he signed a clean copy of the result sheet, which he claimed was later mutilated after he had signed, alleging that all the cancellations in the result sheet occurred after he had signed.

Hamza, who was testifying as the 10th petitioners’ witness (PW10), said these while being cross-examined by Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), lawyer to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

He told the court that, although he did not know the percentage of votes that Atiku scored in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), he was satisfied that the PDP candidate met all the constitutional requirements and provisions to be returned as the winner of the election.