How I was forced to sign presidential result in favour of APC – Witness tells court

Mohammed Tata, a witness for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, at the Presidential Election Tribunal has alleged that he was forced to sign a copy of the result of the February 2019 presidential election.

He also told the court that he was threatened with sack from the N-Power scheme where he is a beneficiary if he does not sign the result.

Tata told the tribunal that he reported the threat but nothing was done to those who forced him to sign the results.

The court heard that Tata served as an agent of the PDP in Jigawa State during the presidential election.

The Presidential Election Tribunal is looking into the applications filed by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, challenging the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari.

While being cross examined by the lawyer to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Yunus Usman, the PDP Tata said, “I was harassed and intimidated to sign the result sheet under duress.

“I was told that if I refuse to sign, my name will be removed from the N-Power programme.”

According to him, the 700 votes claimed to have been won by Buhari and the APC in his unit could not be proven as “there was no score because there was no election.”

He pointed out that he was a Muslim and believes in destiny, adding that he does not care whether the PDP or APC won the election in his unit.

Tata added, “All I want is that I need justice in my country. I don’t care whether my party won or lost, but I am not happy about what happened.”

When asked by the lawyer to the APC, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, why he did not mention the names of those that harassed him in his statement on oath, Tata replied that he decided not to mention names for security reasons and for the fact that he still benefits from the Federal Government’s scheme – N-Power.