The presidential candidate of the people’s Democratic Party Atiku Abubakar , has asked the Supreme Court for permission to file some Chicago State University (CSU) documents concerning Mr Tinubu as fresh evidence to support his appeal challenging the outcome of the disputed 25 February poll.
Atiku, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), based his application for leave to file fresh evidence on Order 2, Rule 12(1) of the Supreme Court Rules 1985 and section 137(1) of Nigerian constitution.
The former Vice President, through his team of lawyers led by Chris Uche, filed the application on 5 October, urging the Supreme Court to grant him leave to produce and for the court to receive “fresh and additional evidence” – documents, including a deposition on oath of an official of the Chicago State University (CSU) concerning Mr Tinubu’s academic records.
Atiku had questioned the authenticity of President Tinubu’s CSU certificate submitted to the electoral body, INEC, as a candidate for the 2023 presidential election. Alleging forgery of the said certificate, Atiku argued that Mr Tinubu was not qualified to contest the election.
The Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja, in its decision delivered in September, dismissed the certificate forgery allegation in the separate petitions filed by Atiku and Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi. The court affirmed the election of the president, who was the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election.
Unrelenting, both Atiku and Mr Obi filed separate appeals at the Supreme Court to challenge the decision of the presidential election court, with each of them insisting that the court declare them them winner of the election or order a fresh one.
Atiku went a step further to obtain an order of a United States court to compel CSU to release Mr Tinubu’s academic records.
A cache of documents was released to Atiku on 2 October on the order of Judge Nancy Maldonado of the District Court of Illinois, Eastern Division, Illinois, United States of America.
In a deposition made at the court on 3 October, Caleb Westberg, the registrar of CSU, confirmed that Mr Tinubu graduated from the university in 1979. Also confirming Mr Tinubu’s identity, Mr Westberg confirmed that the same person with the name who graduated from the university in 1979 is the current Nigerian president.
But he prevaricated, neither confirming nor denying the authenticity of the certificate Mr Tinubu submitted to INEC.
“We were not qualified to verify whether this document is authentic, given that it is not in our possession,” he said in a response to a question by Atiku’s lawyer.
But insisting on the allegation that Mr Tinubu forged the certificate under reference, Atiku is now seeking to tender the university registrar’s deposition with other relevant documents released to him by the university in support of his appeal at the Supreme Court.
Atiku argued in his fresh application filed at the Supreme Court that forgery and perjury are a serious constitutional issue; hence the court should order the removal of Mr Tinubu as president.
He added that the deposition which the CSU official made on oath and deposed to in the presence of Mr Tinubu’s attorneys is “credible and believable, and ought to be believed.”
