Tribunal: Tinubu’s Chicago Varsity, NYSC Certificates Admitted in Court
POLITICS DIGEST- The Presidential Election Petitions Court, PEC, sitting in Abuja, on Friday, admitted in evidence, certified copies of academic qualifications of President Bola Tinubu.
Equally admitted in evidence and marked as an exhibit by the Justice Haruna Tsammani-led five-member panel, was Tinubu’s certificate of service from Mobile Oil Nigeria Plc, which formed part of his work records, as well as a copy of his Guinean Passport.
The documents were tendered before the court by a human rights activist and public interest litigator, Mr. Mike Enahoro-Ebah, who appeared as a star witness in the petition the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr. Atiku Abubakar, filed to nullify the outcome of the presidential election that held on February 25.
Enahoro-Ebah, who is the 27th witness in the matter, told the court that he applied and obtained the Form EC9, which contained the affidavit of personal particulars, which Tinubu submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in aid of his qualifications to contest the presidential election.
He told the court that his lawyer in the United States of America, USA, also wrote to various schools that the 2nd Respondent, Tinubu, claimed to have attended, and obtained more information about him.
Led in evidence by Atiku’s lead counsel, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, the witness, told the court that among the documents he obtained from the USA, included Tinubu’s purported certificate from Chicago State University, which he said belonged to a female.
Also tendered before the court by the witness, was a transcript that was issued in 1977 by South West College, which he said equally established that the Tinubu that attended Chicago State University was a female.
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He told the court that whereas the forwarding letter from his lawyer in the USA, which contained Tinubu’s details, came on November 1, 2022, however, it was nof until April 2023 that he received a copy of the notorised judgement on criminal asset forfeiture proceedings that involved the 2nd Respondent.
Besides, the witness told the court that documents he obtained from INEC showed that the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, certificate that Tinubu submitted in aid of his qualifications, bore the name, Adekunle.
Meanwhile, despite stiff objections from the INEC, President Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress, APC, who are Respondents in the matter, the court, admitted all the documents in evidence and marked them as Exhibits PDE-1 to PDE-5.
The court subsequently stood down its proceedings till 3pm to enable President Tinubu’s legal team led by Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, and that of the APC led by Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, to cross-examine the witness.
Atiku had in the joint petition he filed alongside his party, insisted that President Tinubu had “demonstrated inconsistency as to his actual date of birth, secondary schools he attended (Government College Ibadan); his State of origin, gender, actual name; certificates evidencing Universities attended (Chicago State University).”
According to the petitioners, “The purported degree Certificate of the 2nd Respondent allegedly acquired at the Chicago State University did not belong to him but to a female (F) described as “F” in the Certificate bearing the name Bola Tinubu.
“The 2nd Respondent did not disclose to the 1st Respondent (INEC) his voluntary acquisition of the citizenship of Republic of Guinea with Guinean Passport No. D00001551, in addition to his Nigerian citizenship. The 2nd Respondent is hereby given notice to produce the original copies of his said two passports,” they added.
