Atiku begs Supreme Court to go beyond technicalities in case against Tinubu

The Supreme Court has been urged by the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, to admit fresh evidence against President Bola Tinubu, who he claims has falsified his academic records.

Atiku appealed to the court to disregard technical objections and allow him to present the evidence in the spirit of justice.

He and his party are contesting Tinubu’s victory in the February 25 election and the ruling of the election tribunal that affirmed it.

Atiku had accused Tinubu of having discrepancies and forgeries in his academic credentials.

He had obtained a court order from the US court for the northern district of Illinois to compel Chicago State University (CSU) to release Tinubu’s academic records.

He is now seeking to tender these records at the apex court.

Tinubu, however, through his lawyers led by Wole Olanipekun SAN, filed a counter affidavit and a written address, arguing that his academic records from CSU are irrelevant and inadmissible.

Atiku, in his reply on points of law, said the matter before the court has serious implications and should be decided on its merit.

“The supreme court, as the apex court and indeed the policy court, has intervened time and again to do substantial justice in such matters of great constitutional importance, as it did in the case of AMAECHI vs. INEC (2008) 5 NWLR (Pt. 1080) 227 and OBI vs. INEC (2007) 11 NWLR (Pt. 1046) 565,” he said.

“The supreme court applied the principle of ubi jus ibi remedium to ensure substantial justice is done in such novel scenarios.

“The need to rebuff, eschew and reject technicality and the duty of court to ensure substantial justice is very germane in this matter, given the gravity of the constitutional issue involved in deciding whether a candidate for the highest office in the land, the office of president of the country, presented a forged certificate or not.

“Presenting forged documents by any candidate, especially by a candidate for the highest office in the land, is a very grave constitutional issue that must not be encouraged.”

Atiku in his 20-paragraph affidavit deposed to in support of the application argued that if the apex court grants the application, there would be no need for “any further argument other than the written address in support of same showing that the second respondent is in violation of the provisions of section 137 (1) (j) of the constitution by presenting a certificate disclaimed by the institution from where he purportedly procured same”.

He added that he is not contending whether or not Tinubu attended the Chicago State University but that the president submitted a forged certificate to INEC.

“That the case is not whether the 2nd respondent attended Chicago State University but whether he presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),” he said.