allAfrica.com: Nigeria: Ballot Papers Not Printed in S'Africa, Says Atiku (Page 1 of 1)

The Action Congress (AC) candidate in the April 21 presidential election and former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, yesterday claimed that ballot papers used for the presidential poll were printed in the country by the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC) and not in South Africa as claimed by the Independent National Elec-toral Commission (INEC).

This was contained in the documents tendered in evidence before the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja by Atiku.

The former vice president is challenging the election of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua at the tribunal.

Atiku was not in court yesterday.

But his team of lawyers, which included Rickey Tarfa (SAN) and Emeka Ngige (SAN), formally opened his case and presented loads of documents before the tribunal.

Part of the documents tendered included April 26 and May 3, 2007 editions of two South African newspapers namely Mail and Guardian, which reported that printed ballot papers for Nigeria's presidential election were contracted to be printed only three days to the election.

The newspapers also reported that the ballot papers were abandoned after printing while some were air freighted from South Africa only on the eve of the election.

The former vice president said air traffic flight schedule (data) of April 20 and 21, 2007 at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos would be tendered by his witnesses from the National Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).

Atiku also alleged that the ballot papers used for the presidential poll were not serially numbered.

According to Atiku's lawyers, "ballot papers (used and unused) for the 21st April, 2007 presidential election showed inter alia the imprint of NSPMC Plc, colour, variations, endorsed with zeros (000000000) as serial number and others without any endorsement as to serial number."

Among other documents tendered at the tribunal were results of the election in 15 states of the federation including Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Benue, Cross River, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Niger, Kebbi, Imo and Enugu as well as a list of presidential candidates published by INEC on its website as those standing validly nominated for the election as at March 20, 2007.

The list showed that Atiku's name was not among the candidates.

Atiku also claimed that the presidential election results as published on INEC website also showed that no score was recorded for him in the election.

He also tendered a copy of Daily Trust Newspaper of August, 17, 2007 where President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua allegedly admitted that all INEC commissioners were appointed from the list submitted by PDP members and that he was proposing to reverse the practice by setting up the Electoral Reform Panel.

Also presented to the tribunal were interim and final reports of all international and local observers in respect of the presidential election.

They included reports from Justice, Development and Peace/ Caritas Nigeria, Transition Monitoring Group, International Republican Institute and European Union Election Observation Mission.

Others are video clips of national and local television stations before, during and after the election as well as materials from Vanguard, Thisday, The Nation, and The Punch newspapers among other publications.

Meanwhile, the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) presidential candidate in the April 21 election and former head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), has said that with a voter-population of less than 70 million compared to India's 600 million voters, Nigeria still does not know how best to conduct elections.

Buhari made the remark yesterday when he paid a courtesy call on the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, Reverend John Onaiyekan, who was voted recently as the President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)

The former head of state said India had a very complex situation in terms of language, religion, ethnicity and population and notwithstanding the country still managed to do everything right.

He said the poverty level in India was serious than that of Nigeria and yet India continued to showcase its democratic credentials to the admiration of the entire world.

While describing violence as a problem emanating from the elite, Buhari warned the Nigerian elite to be cautious of their actions so that the country would not be plunged into violence as a result of the interests of some selfish individuals.

He, however, expressed confidence in the judiciary to stabilise the polity, saying the judiciary had restored the hope of the common man.

Responding, Reverend Onaiyekan said a lot of Nigerians were aggrieved about the conduct of the last election in the country and wondered why the electoral laws made it impossible for voters to go to court to challenge the outcome of the poll.

He said it was regrettable that everybody agreed that the April election was a sham with the exception of INEC.

According to him, "where there is no justice, there cannot be peace but as a religious body, Christians will continue to pray for the country so that justice can be done."

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