Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 general elections, Atiku Abubakar, has filed new documents against President Bola Tinubu before the Supreme Court in which he accused the President of forgery and lying under oath, and should therefore be disqualified and removed from office.

The evidence filed by the former vice president was the academic records of Tinubu, which were handed over to him by the Chicago State University on Monday following the order of an Illinois court in the United States of America instructing the institution to release the academic records as requested by Atiku.

The PDP candidate had requested the documents for use in Nigerian courts to support his argument that Tinubu forged a certificate he claimed to have obtained from the CSU in 1979 and submitted to the country’s electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission, for the 2023 presidential election.

In an interview with one of our correspondents on Friday, one of Atiku’s lawyers, who pleaded anonymity, said Tinubu’s academic records had been submitted to the apex court.

 “We have filed (the fresh evidence) but I do not have a copy (of the filing). You can approach the Supreme Court for a copy of the process,” the lawyer said.

But Atiku’s lead counsel at the tribunal, Chris Uche, said the process was being worked on.

“I am sure they are working on it. I will get back if I have any information on it,” he said.

A media consultant to the former vice-president, Paul Ibe, confirmed to one of our correspondents on Friday that the lawyers would file the fresh evidence on Friday to complement the grounds of appeal filed earlier.

“I am yet to get any briefing from the legal team, but it (fresh evidence) will be filed on or before 12 midnight of today (Friday), which is the deadline.”

Asked about the specific prayers of the PDP candidate on account of the fresh evidence, Ibe added, “The extra evidence or the new evidence, which has to do with the certificate that Tinubu submitted to INEC, based on the petition, the discovery and deposition, which is what we have been waiting for, will help. And that is not the only ground; the initial filing we made to the Supreme Court was on 35 grounds.

“The Chicago evidence is just extra evidence in support of the application.”

In text messages to one of our correspondents, members of Atiku’s legal team, Chris Uche and Mike Ozekhome, also confirmed that the new evidence would be filed on Friday.

They, however, refused to reveal the content of the fresh filing. A source in the camp of Atiku told our correspondent that the grounds already included allegations of forgery and perjury, saying the former vice-president was determined to see the matter to the end.

The source noted, “We have pointed out repeatedly the issues of forgery and perjury as regards the Chicago State University certificate and what the APC candidate submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission.

“So, on one hand, he lied to INEC under oath, and on the other hand, the university said it didn’t issue the document Tinubu submitted to INEC, which means whatever was submitted was not the valid certificate.”

One of the counsel for Atiku, Kalu Kalu, had said at the press conference by the former vice president on Thursday, “One, that Tinubu forged the certificate he presented to INEC. Two, the qualifying certificate from South West College to Chicago State University bears a female name, indicating that that document does not belong to Tinubu.

“Three, the Chicago State University admission form has a claim that Tinubu attended Government College Lagos and graduated in 1970 when indeed the school was established in 1974.

“The same document has it that the owner of that document is a black American and in the document Bola Ahmed Tinubu submitted to INEC, he denied having dual citizenship, which means it does not belong to him. Then, the same document, oral deposition, said the A in Bola A. Tinubu is Ahmed, but the NYSC certificate Bola Ahmed Tinubu submitted to INEC has Adekunle. I don’t know where Adekunle emerged from.”

 

Punch