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Why Supreme Court Shouldn’t Accept Atiku’s Plea On CSU Records — Tinubu

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7 months ago

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Nigeria’s President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, says Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are attempting the impossible by trying to get the supreme court to accept fresh evidence in his appeal.

Atiku Abubakar and the PDP are challenging Tinubu’s victory at the presidential poll and the verdict of the election tribunal upholding the outcome of the vote.

Abubakar had alleged that Tinubu’s academic records were fraught with discrepancies and forgeries.

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.

The PDP candidate is now seeking to introduce these records at the apex court.

However, in a counter affidavit and written address filed through his team of lawyers, led by Wole Olanipekun, the president said his academic records obtained from CSU cannot be considered by the supreme court.

Tinubu argued that the court cannot accept the written deposition of the CSU registrar who was not a witness before the tribunal and whose written statement was not activated through oral evidence as required under Section 41(1) of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act 2022.

“Where a written deposition is not activated by oral examination of the deponent before the court, same will not be acted upon by a court,” Tinubu said.

“It is not in doubt that the deponent of the deposition sought to be introduced as additional evidence was not orally examined at the lower court.

“The appellant has not made a case for the court to override the provision of Paragraph 41(1) of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act or referred to any law permitting the use of the deposition outside the confines of Paragraph 41(1) of the 1st Schedule.

“Appellants are attempting the impossible, thus, they have not stated whether the evidence is documentary or oral evidence because it fits into neither.”

The president said “the new document/deposition was neither pleaded nor listed at the lower court”.

“Even in regular civil proceedings, the court will still be required to fall back to originating processes in assessing the extent of its powers,” he said.

“None of the seven issues for determination presented by the appellants has any proximity to the disqualification of the respondents on the ground of forgery of any certificate whatsoever.

“Equally, there is no relief in the petition, seeking the disqualification of the respondent on the ground of forgery.”

He argued that the apex court cannot admit the deposition by the CSU’s registrar and an additional document (marked Exhibits C and D) because the deposition was not made before a court but in the office of Abubakar’s lawyer.

“The purported deposition was made, not before a court, but before a shorthand reporter, in a law office of the 1st appellant’s (Abubakar) counsel,” Tinubu claimed.

“He described the evidence as “hearsay” adding that “it is of no evidential value in the absence of the alleged deponent, Caleb Westerberg.”

Tinubu also raised the issue of fair hearing, stating that if the fresh evidence is accepted, the respondents will have no opportunity to file a response to it.

“A person who alleges that his right to fair hearing is being or likely to be breached does not need to prove any special damage,” he said.

He said allowing the application would amount to hearing the petition of which the apex court no longer has the power to assume trial jurisdiction considering that the 180 days allowed by the constitution has since elapsed.

Tinubu submitted that the fresh application by Abubakar and the PDP “is meant to harass, irritate and annoy” him, adding that “it is reckless and frivolous, and there is no iota of law supporting it”.

“From the foregoing, it is safe to submit that this application is a crass abuse of the processes of this honourable court,” he added.

“In conclusion, and for the reasons and arguments advanced in this address, we urge the Supreme Court to dismiss this application.”

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BIG STORY

JUST IN: Former Aviation Minister, Sirika, Daughter Arrive Court Over N2.7bn Fraud Case [PHOTOS]

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1 hour ago

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May 9, 2024

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Hadi Sirika, Former Minister of Aviation, alongside his daughter, Fatima have arrived at the Federal High Court in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja where they will be arraigned for an alleged N2.7bn fraud in connection with the botched Nigerian Air project.

Recall that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has slammed six counts on the former minister, his daughter, and two others.

The anti-graft agency accused Sirika of conferring undue advantage on some entities between April 2022 and March 2023 in Abuja.

It added that that embattled minister abused his office by awarding consultancy N1.3bn contract for the Nigerian Air Start-up to Tianero  Nigeria Limited.

 

See photos below:

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BIG STORY

46-Yr-Old Man Nabbed For ‘Stealing’ Road Studs On Third Mainland Bridge

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1 hour ago

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May 9, 2024

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The Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps (LNSC) has confirmed the arrest of  one Friday Nwafor for vandalising and stealing road light indicators on the Third Mainland Bridge.

Jubril Gawat, Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s senior special assistant on new media, stated in a post on his X page that the 46-year-old vandal was taken into custody on Tuesday.

Gawat stated that Nwafor was turned over to the police following his discovery of having taken off the road studs from the recently refurbished bridge.

“Officers of the Lagos State Neigbourhood Safety Corps (LNSC) apprehended a road infrastructure vandal who was vandalizing the newly constructed 3rd Mainland Bridge road light indicators,” he wrote.

“The suspect was identified as Mr. Friday Nwafor, a 46-year-old male resident of Lagos, who was immediately taken into our custody and handed over to the Commissioner of Police, Lagos Command, Mr. Adegoke Fayoade.”

Last month, the Lagos police command arrested four suspects for vandalising and stealing armoured cables.

In a post on his X handle, Benjamin Hundeyin, the police spokesperson in Lagos, posted that the suspects were arrested along Oba Akran road.

Hundeyin said the vandalised armoured cables were installed by the state government for the smart city light-up Lagos project.

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BIG STORY

PDP Replies APC Over Plot To Impeach Fubara, Says “Perish Thought Of Forceful Takeover”

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2 hours ago

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May 9, 2024

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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of being desperate to take over Rivers state by force.

The caretaker committee of the APC in Rivers, on Tuesday, asked the Rivers house of assembly to impeach governor Siminalayi Fubara.

Tony Okocha, chairman of APC in the state, gave the directive while addressing a press conference in Port Harcourt, the capital.

Reacting during a media briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, Debo Ologunagba, the PDP spokesperson, asked the APC to perish the thought of a forceful takeover of Rivers.

Ologunagba said APC has been rejected in Rivers, noting that the party is desperate “to use violence, coercion, and bullying to undermine the will of the people and forcefully take over the state”.

“The fact that the Rivers State APC Chairman, in his warped imagination, thinks he can direct impeachment proceedings against a duly elected State Governor not only shows the level of APC’s arrogance and condescension for the people of Rivers State but also further confirms APC’s desperation to forcefully annex their democratic rights under the Constitution,” he said.

“In any event, the individuals that the Rivers State APC Chairman directed to commence impeachment proceedings against Governor Fubara are not legally members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and cannot contemplate or exercise such powers under the law.

“These individuals, by virtue of section 109(1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), have since vacated and lost their seats, rights, privileges, recognition, and obligations accruable to members of the Rivers State House of Assembly after their defection from the PDP, the political party platform upon which they were elected into the Rivers State House of Assembly.

“For emphasis, section 109 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution provides that: “a member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if … (g) being a person whose election to the House of Assembly was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected.”

“It should be noted that Section 109 (1) (g) of the Constitution is self-executory. The import of this provision is that the members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who defected have vacated their seats by reason of that defection.”

He added that the “unlawful” directive by the  APC chairman for the impeachment of the governor is a “brazen call for anarchy”.

Ologunagba said the call amounts to an attempt to forcefully overthrow a democratic order in clear violation of section 1 sub-section 2 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

“The APC must perish the thought of forcefully taking over Rivers State as such is a direct assault on the sensibility of the people which will be resisted firmly,” he said.

On Monday, Fubara expressed dismay over the attitude of the assembly members toward his administration, adding that the lawmakers only exist because of him.

The governor added that he accepted the peace deal offered by President Bola Tinubu because it was a political solution to the rift.

In December, 27 PDP legislators in the Rivers assembly defected to the APC.

The seats of the lawmakers were subsequently declared vacant.

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