President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday opened his defence in Peter Obi’s suit challenging his victory at the 25 February presidential election.
Mr Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the disputed poll, filed his petition at the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja, accusing the electoral commission, INEC, of rigging the election in favour of Mr Tinubu.
He also accused Mr Tinubu, who won the election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), of fraudulent academic records and drug trafficking, amongst other issues.
Mr Obi came third in the February presidential election with 6,101,533 votes.
At the resumed proceedings on Wednesday, Mr Tinubu’s lawyer, Wole Olanipekun, tendered 18 documents as exhibits before the five-member panel of the court chaired by Haruna Tsammani.
Mr Olanipekun, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), presented Mr Tinubu’s academic records from the Chicago State University in the United States of America.
In further aid of the president’s case, Mr Olanipekun tendered certified true copies of correspondences between the Nigeria Police Force and the US Embassy in Nigeria concerning alleged criminal records of Mr Tinubu in the US over drug trafficking.
The US consulate wrote to the then Inspector-General of Police, Tafa Balogun, now deceased, clearing Mr Tinubu of any criminal conviction or arrest in the US. The letter was dated 4 February, 2003.
Most of the documents tendered in Mr Obi’s case were earlier admitted in evidence on Tuesday at the opening of Mr Tinubu’s defence in Atiku Abubakar’s petition also contesting the outcome of the presidential poll.
Atiku, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who came second in the race, is also challenging Mr Tinubu’s victory on similar grounds as Mr Obi’s.
Other vital documents also tendered included: data page of Mr Tinubu’s Nigerian passports issued on 2 February, 2011 and 20 November 2019; visa to the US issued on 4 February 2011 and acknowledgement copy of Kashim Shettima’s notice of voluntary withdrawal of candidacy from Borno Central Senatorial District election dated 6 February, 2023.
But Mr Obi’s lawyer, Livy Uzoukwu, a SAN, objected to the admissibility of the documents, while INEC and the APC consented to the court’s admissibility of the documents.
At the time of filing this report, Mr Tinubu’s first star witness, Michael Bamidele, a senator, is to testify before the court.
Led in evidence by Mr Olanipekun, Mr Bamidele, who represents Ekiti Central Senatorial District and named the senate leader for the 10th Senate, said he has been an attorney and counselor at New York Bar since January 1999.
Mr Bamidele’s statement on oath at the court registry has been tendered and admitted in evidence without objection from Mr Obi’s lawyer.
