Atiku finally approaches Supreme Court, files fresh evidence against Tinubu’s victory

DAILY POST

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, has finally filed fresh evidence at the Supreme Court of Nigeria against the qualifications of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the February 25, 2023 presidential election.

Atiku, a former Vice President, said in the fresh evidence that he is categorically and authoritatively asserting that the Diploma Certificate of the Chicago State University (CSU) used by Tinubu to secure qualifications for participation in the election is fake, having been allegedly forged.

In a motion on notice filed by his legal team headed by Chris Uche SAN, Atiku asked the Supreme Court to invoke its Order 2 Rule 12 of 1985 to admit the fresh evidence of certificate forgery and perjury in support of his pending appeal before the Court to do substantial justice to his case.

Atiku, in the motion, marked SC/CV/935/2023, prayed the Apex Court to grant him leave to produce the additional evidence and for the Court to receive the fresh evidence from him.

Respondents in the motion are the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC; Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress, APC, as 1st to 3rd respectively.

The motion is predicated on several grounds but mainly on the release of academic records of Tinubu, evidence of the Registrar of the Chicago State University before a United States of America Court and the deposition of the same witness in respect of the Diploma Certificate President Tinubu presented to INEC for the purpose of eligibility for the election.

Other grounds in the motion are that “The 2nd Respondent (Tinubu) was not qualified at the time of the election to contest the election as required by Section 137 (1) (j) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).

“Based on facts available to the Appellants/Applicants (Atiku) at the time of filing their Petition, the 1st Appellar Applicant (Atiku Abubakar,) through his United States of
American lawyers, Alexander de Cmmont and Argela M. Liu of the law firm of Dechert LLP o11900 K Street, NW, Washington DC 20006-1110, unsuccessfully applied to Chicago State University for the release of copies of the academic records of the 2nd Respondent.

“Given the strict privacy laws in the jurisdiction of Chicago State University, the request for the release of the academic records and certificate issued to the 2nd Respondent could not be granted without an order of court and for the purpose of use in pending court proceedings.

“The 1st Applicant through his said US-based Attomeys thereupon brought an action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois -In rc: Application of Atiku Abubakar for an Order Directing Discovery from Chicago State University Case No. 23-CV-05099 for an order for the production of documents and testimony for use in a proceeding in a foreign court, seeking documents and testimony from Chicago State University concerning the authenticity and origin of documents purporting to be the educational records of the 2nd Respondent, Bola A. Tinubu.