The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) in Abuja has admitted into evidence a transcript regarding President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s admission into Chicago State University, submitted by South West College, wherein Tinubu is identified as a female.
The transcript, along with other documents, was tendered by the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and his party as part of their joint petition challenging Tinubu’s declaration as the winner of the February 25 presidential election.
The court has also accepted other documents presented by the petitioners as exhibits, including a certified true copy of a certificate purportedly issued to Tinubu by Chicago State University, a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate issued in the name of Tinubu Bola Adekunle, a party membership card, a certificate of service from Mobile Oil Nigeria Plc, a notarized judgment from a USA court regarding the criminal forfeiture of Tinubu’s assets, and a printout of Tinubu’s Guinea passport.
Additionally, a certificate of compliance, a witness statement on oath, and various other documents were tendered by the petitioners to support their allegations contesting Tinubu’s election victory in February.
Chief Chris Uche (SAN), the lead counsel for the petitioners, presented the documents through the 27th witness, Mr. Mike Enahoro-Eba, an Abuja-based human rights activist and public interest lawyer.
To the surprise of many, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu strongly objected to the admission of his Chicago State University degree and his Republic of Guinea International passport as exhibits in the case brought against him by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) also joined in opposing the admission of these documents.
Nevertheless, despite the objections raised, the Chairman of the Tribunal, Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, admitted all the documents as exhibits.
Tinubu, INEC, and APC, who are the respondents in the petition, will have an opportunity to explain their objections during the final stage of the proceedings.
During cross-examination by Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), the lead counsel for INEC, the witness stated that the election proceeded smoothly at the polling unit where he voted in Abuja and mentioned that he had filed a lawsuit against Tinubu at a Magistrate Court as a human rights and public interest lawyer.
Prior to this, the petitioners submitted certified true copies of Form EC8As, which are the results of the presidential election from polling units in six states across the country.
The breakdown of the documents includes Form EC8As from 25 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Delta State, Forms EC8As from 13 LGAs in Ebonyi State, Form EC8As from 18 LGAs in Edo State, Form EC8As from 17 LGAs in Enugu State, Form EC8As from 27 LGAs in Imo State, and Form EC8As from 21 LGAs in Kogi State.
INEC, Tinubu, and the All Progressives Congress (APC), listed as respondents in the petition marked CA/PEPC/05/2023, objected to the admissibility of the election results and stated their intention to provide reasons for their objection during the final address stage.
The court, however, admitted the documents and marked them as exhibits.