Supreme Court to Hear Appeals by Atiku, Obi, and APM in Battle Against Tinubu.
The Supreme Court is set to commence hearings today (Monday) on appeals filed by Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party, and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM). They are seeking to challenge the victory of President Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the February 25 presidential election.
These appeals were lodged after the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal upheld President Tinubu’s victory, and the Supreme Court recently communicated the hearing date to all concerned parties.
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Atiku and Obi both expressed their disagreement with the tribunal’s verdict and subsequently filed their appeals at the Supreme Court. Notably, Atiku also sought permission to present a copy of academic records from the Chicago State University (CSU), USA, which he claimed demonstrated that Tinubu had submitted a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Furthermore, the former vice president is pursuing a Washington, D.C. court order that would require the FBI to release documents related to President Tinubu’s $460,000 forfeiture case.
It’s essential to remember that President Tinubu previously asked the Supreme Court to disregard his academic records from Chicago State University, which were attached by Atiku Abubakar. He argued that this development was not in line with the country’s judicial procedures and that Atiku had a habit of first filing a petition and subsequently searching for evidence, which he demonstrated while appealing the tribunal’s judgment.
In his response to Atiku’s appeal, President Tinubu, represented by his legal team led by Wole Olanipekun, SAN, stated that the claims of discrepancies in his credentials were fabricated by the PDP candidate.
There is a prevailing question of whether the Supreme Court will admit this fresh evidence or not. Legal practitioner Mathew Abakpa from Rivers State commented on the matter, suggesting that admitting Atiku’s fresh evidence is “legally possible.” However, what the Supreme Court will ultimately do with this new evidence remains uncertain.
