The Supreme Court has just dismissed an interlocutory application filed by former Vice President Abubakar Atiku and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seeking leave to present fresh evidence in their appeal challenging the declaration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the winner of the February 25 presidential election.
The fresh evidence Atiku and his party sought to tender are the academic records of Tinubu, which were handed over to him by Chicago State University (CSU) on October 2, 2023.
The 32-page document was released to the former Vice President on the orders of Judge Nancy Maldonado of the District Court of Illinois, Eastern Division, Illinois, United States of America.
The US court had ordered the CSU to release the said documents to Atiku despite Tinubu’s objection because the court was convinced that it would help Atiku establish his allegation of forgery and lying on oath against Tinubu.
Lead counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) for President Tinubu, and Chief Akin Olujimi (SAN) representing the All Progressives Congress (APC), who are listed as 1st to 3rd defendants in Atiku, PDP’s appeal, objected to the admissibility of the fresh evidence sought to be tendered by the appellants.
The respondents urged the court to refuse the application and dismiss it in its entirety for lacking merit.
Delivering a ruling on the application argued by Chief Chris Uche (SAN), lead counsel to Atiku and his party, Justice John Inyang Okoro, leading six other Justices of the Apex Court, held that the Supreme Court lacks the jurisdiction to allow fresh evidence as the appellants failed to meet the laid-down conditions for admissibility of fresh evidence after the judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) that dismissed the petitioners’ petition.
The court held that facts and documents not filed in the petition cannot be considered in the appeal before the apex court and added that “since the lower court has no jurisdiction to allow fresh depositions, this court also cannot allow tendering of fresh and additional depositions”.
…Details later.
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