By Kamil Opeyemi
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 25 presidential poll, Atiku Abubakar, has asked the Supreme Court to reject technicality and grant his application for leave to tender fresh and additional evidence to support his claim that President Bola Tinubu, submitted forged documents to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The former vice-president and his party are challenging Tinubu’s victory at the presidential poll and the verdict of the election tribunal upholding the outcome of the February 25 election.
Abubakar had alleged that Tinubu’s academic records were fraught with discrepancies and forgeries.
Atiku predicated his plea on the grounds that presenting forged documents by any candidate, especially by one for the highest office in the land, is a grave constitutional issue that must not be encouraged.
The former Vice President stated this in his reply on point of law to Tinubu’s objection to grant leave for Atiku to present the fresh evidence before the apex court.
President Tinubu had predicated his objection on grounds of jurisdiction and that the issue of qualification is a pre-election matter amongst others and subsequently prayed the court to deny the grant of the application.
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While faulting President Tinubu, Atiku submitted that issues of merit ought not to be determined or pronounced upon at the interlocutory stage.
“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
Meanwhile, in a 20 paragraph affidavit deposed to in support of the application, Atiku 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 2nd 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.”
Atiku also faulted President Tinubu’s submission that he was inconsistent in his names, describing the submission as immaterial and pedestrian, as there is no petition challenging his qualification.
Besides, Atiku pointed out that the presentation of a forged certificate disqualifies a candidate for all time, no matter when and where presented.
“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.