Further details from Thursday’s response filed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s appeal against the September 6 judgment of Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT), in Abuja, affirming his February 25 election victory, has been revealed.
According to the update, the President is pleading with the Supreme Court not to admit any fresh evidence from Atiku Abubakar, particularly the deposition of Caleb Westberg, registrar of Chicago State University (CSU), on the grounds that it was “alien” to the proceedings since it was not initially tendered at the first court of trial.
On Thursday, this online newspaper had reported President Tinubu has asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the appeal filed by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenging his victory in the 2023 presidential election. The President described the appeal as abusive in nature and prayed for its dismissal.
It will be recalled aides of the President, among them lawyers and journalists, and many of his supporters who are champions on social media have argued that the President forged the certificate of Chicago State University he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), premising their evidence on purported sworn affidavit by the university’s registrar, Mr. Caleb Westberg, which The DEFENDER reported was not accommodated in the Tuesday October 3 Deposition the same registrar gave of the 32-page documents handed over to Atiku on Monday October 2 following the United States District Court order of Saturday September 30, 2023.
In the response just filed, Tinubu asserted that the Supreme Court must not encourage Abubakar’s behaviour, according to him, of first filing bogus petitions and relegating the supply of evidence to buttress his claims till later. The president noted that his rival demonstrated the same behaviour at the elections petitions tribunal.
“Appellants’ submission under paragraph 6.45 of their brief further exposes the entire attitude of the appellants before the lower court, that is, the attitude of first filing a petition and then fishing for evidence during the pendency of the petition and even up to the point of appeal to this honourable court,” contended the Nigerian leader.
He further urged the apex court not to countenance the evidence of forgery submitted by Mr Abubakar because it was never entered into the records or judgement of the tribunal that upheld his election victory and formed the basis of the plaintiffs’ appeal.
“Without prejudice to our objection to this issue, we submit that the arguments regarding a purported ‘Case No. 1:23-CV05009-Re: Application of Atiku for an Order Directing Discovery from Chicago State University…’ is alien to these proceedings, does not arise from the record or the judgment of the lower court and cannot be countenanced by this honourable court, and we urge the court to so hold,” the president stated.
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, after several weeks of legal back-and-forths at the U.S. Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago, succeeded in obtaining Mr Tinubu’s CSU educational records.
The registrar’s deposition further revealed that despite Mr Tinubu’s attendance and graduation from the university, the institution never issued him an original or replacement certificate.
Following Mr Westberg’s testimony, Mr Abubakar and many Nigerians are now curious about where and how Mr Tinubu obtained the certificate he submitted to INEC.
But the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is determined to annul Mr Tinubu’s election victory, citing section 137(j) of the constitution, which stipulates that no person shall be eligible to be president if “he has presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission.”
