In the ongoing case filed by Mr. Peter Obi, the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), to contest the outcome of the 2023 presidential election, a Software Engineer named Mr. Anthony Chinwo appeared before the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) in Abuja on Thursday as the second witness for the petitioners.

Chinwo, who testified as PW-2 (Petitioners’ Witness 2), informed the court that while he was not well-versed in the application of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) device, he possessed sufficient knowledge about the functioning of back-end servers. During cross-examination, the witness, who also identified himself as an Architect, clarified that he did not hold a significant role during the election process.

He acknowledged that Amazon Web Services (AWS), which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) utilized for the general elections, was widely recognized as one of the most trusted providers of Cloud Computer Services, offering a high level of security assurance at 99.9%.

Chinwo further explained that AWS was commonly used by companies and individuals who prioritized data security and confidentiality.

“However, deployment of AWS is one thing, but utilizing it is something else,” he added.

Asked how he gathered information on the election, which he analysed, the witness, said: “My lords, I used publicly available INEC Application Programming Interface, API, to conduct analysis of the election.

“I used them to collect all the information that were available on the election. I did it over time during the period of the election.”

According to the witness, it was his belief that INEC should have uploaded data to its server, beginning from the polling unit level. This statement suggests that he expected the electoral commission to follow a specific protocol in uploading the election data.

Furthermore, the second petitioner’s witness acknowledged that he was unable to cast his vote on the election day. Additionally, he clarified that he was not affiliated with Amazon, dispelling any potential misconceptions about his relationship with the company.

Asked if he knew the number of softwares that INEC deployed for the conduct of the election, the witness, said: “I am not a staff of INEC, so I am not in position to know the number of softwares that made the component of the softwares that INEC used for the 2023 election.”

During the proceedings of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) in Abuja, Mr. Anthony Chinwo, a Software Engineer, testified as the second witness (PW-2) in the case filed by Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) to challenge the outcome of the 2023 presidential election. Chinwo, while admitting his lack of familiarity with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) device, asserted his adequate knowledge of the operation of back-end servers.

Under cross-examination, Chinwo, who also identified himself as an Architect, clarified that he did not hold a significant role during the election process. He acknowledged the reliability and security of Amazon Web Services (AWS), which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) used for the general elections, stating that AWS is a trusted provider of Cloud Computer Services with a 99.9% security assurance. However, he emphasized that deploying AWS and effectively utilizing it are two distinct aspects.

When questioned about how he obtained and analyzed election information, the witness explained that he used publicly available INEC Application Programming Interface (API) to collect data during the election period. Chinwo maintained that INEC should have uploaded data to its server starting from the polling unit level.

After Chinwo concluded his testimony, the Justice Haruna Tsammani-led five-member panel admitted four INEC Forms EC40G from Bayelsa state as evidence. These forms summarize the registered voters at polling units where elections did not take place. The court marked them as Exhibits EG 1 to EG 4, despite objections from the respondents. The respondents reserved their reasons for objection for the final written address.

The respondents in the petition include INEC, President-elect Bola Tinubu, Vice-President-elect Kashim Shettima, and the All Progressives Congress (APC). The court adjourned further proceedings until the following day to hear an application filed by Obi and the LP. The application sought permission to interrogate INEC regarding the technology deployed for the general elections. The respondents requested the court to dismiss the application as it was filed outside the pre-hearing period.

In their application, the petitioners demanded that INEC answer specific questions regarding the functionality test of the system deployed for the elections and the individuals involved. They also sought answers about the creation and deployment of application patches/updates to address errors that hindered the e-transmission of presidential election results on February 25, 2023.

The petitioners further requested INEC to provide answers to specific questions. They sought information on the timing of the resolution and repair of technological glitches during the election process. Additionally, they inquired about the percentage of the presidential election result that was uploaded on the I-Rev (INEC Results Viewing Portal) on February 25, 2023. Similarly, they wanted to know the percentage of the result that was uploaded on the I-Rev at the time of the official declaration of the presidential election result on March 1, 2023. These questions aimed to gather crucial details regarding the technical aspects and transparency of the electoral process.

“If the Presidential Election was conducted concurrently with the National Assembly Elections on the same day and at the same time using the same technological devices, why were there glitches only with respect to the Presidential Election?,” the petitioners queried INEC in the application they described as very vital to their case against President Tinubu’s election victory.