The Supreme Court, on Monday, reserved judgment on the appeal of the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, and his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi, against the election of President Bola Tinubu, News About Nigeria reports.
Atiku had applied to the court to allow him to present fresh documents to support his appeal against Tinubu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the February 25th election.
The fresh documents are President Tinubu’s academic records obtained from Chicago State University.
Speaking at the court, Atiku’s lead counsel, Chris Uche, SAN, said that Tinubu’s CSU forged certificate is a weighty, grave, and constitutional offence, which the Supreme Court should admit.
He urged the court to admit the fresh evidence of President Tinubu’s academic records from CSU presented by Atiku.
Uche further urged the Supreme Court to critically examine Tinubu’s records and reach a decision devoid of technicalities.
While presenting his arguments, Obi’s lead counsel, Livy Uzoukwu, urged the court to hear their appeal.
INEC’s lawyer, Mahmoud, while making his submissions, urged the court to dismiss Obi and Atiku’s appeal, noting that it lacked merit.
Adopting their addresses, Tinubu’s lawyer, Wole Olanipekun, and his APC counterpart, Akin Olujinmi, also urged the court to dismiss Obi’s appeal.
Olanipekun also argued that INEC should have been a party at the deposition proceedings in the US, noting that the CSU depositions are dormant until the deponent comes to court and testifies.
After hearing the different parties, the seven-man panel led by John Inyang Okoro announced that the judgment date would be communicated to them.
Okoro said, “This appeal is reserved for judgment until a date to be communicated to the parties.”
Other members of the panel are Uwani Aji, Mohammed Garba, Ibrahim Saulawa, Adamu Jauro, Abubakar Tijjani, and Emmanuel Agim.
