In a significant development at the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s defense against the petition filed by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Abubakar Atiku, began with the admission of crucial exhibits on Tuesday evening.
President Tinubu’s lead counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN, presented educational documents from Chicago State University as evidence to establish Tinubu’s attendance and graduation from the American institution. The exhibits included his admission letter, highlighting his educational background.
Additionally, Tinubu’s legal team tendered his US Visa documents, which provided evidence of his multiple visits to the United States of America (USA) between 2011 and 2021, demonstrating his unimpeded travel history.
The purpose of submitting these documents was to refute allegations of criminality raised against Tinubu in the petition. To further support their case, all relevant documents from the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), clearing Tinubu for his US trips, were also presented to the court.
Furthermore, the Court admitted exhibits such as a response letter from the United States Embassy dated April 4, 2003, in reply to a letter from the Nigerian Police dated February 3, 2003. The Nigerian Police letter had claimed that the Embassy possessed no criminal records of Tinubu in the USA.
Despite objections raised by the PDP and the former Vice President, the documents were admitted as exhibits. Notably, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), the first and third respondents in the petition, respectively, did not object to the admission of these documents.
In addition to the educational records, the Court also accepted an originating summons of a suit filed at the Supreme Court by the Attorneys General of Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, and Sokoto States. This suit challenges Tinubu’s educational qualifications to contest the 2023 presidential election. Newspaper publications regarding various lawsuits filed against Tinubu by different groups were also admitted as exhibits.
The further hearing in the petition has been rescheduled for July 5 by the Presiding Justice of the Court, Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani