President Bola Tinubu has requested the Supreme Court to reject the application by the People’s Democratic Party’s candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to introduce new evidence in his appeal aimed at overturning the presidential election.
Recall his request for the US court for the northern district of Illinois to compel Chicago State University (CSU) to release Tinubu’s academic records has since been granted.
Atiku is currently seeking the admission of these documents in the apex court.
In his reply to the primary appeal, Tinubu argued that the claim of certificate forgery had not been initially raised in Abubakar’s submission to the tribunal.
Tinubu argued that Abubakar’s recently granted application in a US court is “alien” to the ongoing appeal before the Supreme Court.
He said,
In addition, President Tinubu emphasized that the entire appeal is devoid of merit and should be dismissed.
The President characterized the appeal as being abusive and requested its dismissal.
He implored the highest court to uphold the lower court’s ruling and reject the appeal entirely, citing its lack of merit and good faith.
Earlier, Atiku and the PDP submitted a petition contesting the results of the presidential election that took place on February 25, 2023.
In addition to various other issues, the petitioners claimed that the election suffered from irregularities and substantial violations of the Electoral Act.
The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, however, in its decision dated September 6, determined that Atiku had not successfully demonstrated the veracity of the claims made in his petition.
The PDP candidate subsequently filed an appeal before the apex court on September 18, 2023
Also, Atiku is praying the court accepts the new evidence granted to him by the Chicago State University on the controversial Tinubu’s academic record, alleging that the result was forged and that alone is a ground for Tinubu’s disqualification.
