The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former vice president Abubakar Atiku jointly petitioned the Supreme Court on February 25, disputing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s designation as the winner of the February 25 presidential election. The Supreme Court has reserved judgement in this case.
After all parties approved their written addresses, the seven-member panel of justices on the Supreme Court, led by Justice Inyang Okoro, set the date for the appeal’s ruling.
When the appeal was summoned, Chief Chris Uche, who was speaking on behalf of the appellants, informed the court that there had been an interlocutory application filed asking for permission to introduce new evidence in the appeal.
The new proof that Atiku attempted to present was Tinubu’s academic transcripts, which Chicago State University (CSU) gave him on October 2, 2023.
On the direction of Judge Nancy Maldonado of the District Court of Illinois, Eastern Division, Illinois, United States of America, the 32-page document was made available to the former vice president.
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Although Tinubu objected, the US court ordered the CSU to give the documents to Atiku because it believed that doing so would support his claims of falsification and lying under oath against Tinubu, the declared winner of the February 25 presidential election.
In their different counter-affidavits, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Tinubu, and the All Progressives Congress (APC), who are listed as the first through third respondents in the appeal, pleaded with the court to reject the application because it lacked merit.
President Tinubu’s representative, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), endorsed the motion on notice submitted on October 7 in support of a seven-paragraph affidavit requesting the deletion of certain paragraphs from the appeal filed by Atiku and his party.
The court reserved ruling in the appeal after the parties adopted the procedures.
Details to come…
