President Tinubu, Vice President Shettima, and their political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), have concluded their defense in the joint petition filed against them by the Labour Party (LP) and its candidate, Peter Obi.
The LP and Obi had challenged the victory of the trio in the presidential election held on February 25. Led by their legal team, including Wole Olanikpekun, SAN (representing Tinubu and Shettima), and Lateef Fagbemi, SAN (representing the APC), the respondents presented various documents and called a witness to support their arguments against the petitioners’ claims.
Despite objections from the petitioners, the five-member panel, presided over by Justice Haruna Tsammani, admitted the documents as evidence and marked them as exhibits.
The court granted the respondents 10 days to file their final written addresses, the petitioners 7 days to respond, and 5 days for a reply on points of law. The date for the adoption of the final written addresses will be communicated to the parties.
During the proceedings, the President called the Senate Majority Leader, Michael Bamidele, as a witness. Bamidele stated that the $460,000 forfeiture order against the President by a U.S. court was related to a civil matter and should not be equated with criminal charges.
He clarified that there was no conviction or sentence against Tinubu, as required by law for it to be transformed into criminal charges. The witness also revealed that the APC’s election results in Kano state showed a shortfall of 10,292 votes for Tinubu.
Under cross-examination by Fagbemi, SAN, representing the APC, Bamidele informed the court that Obi’s name was not included in the membership list of the LP submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Other documents presented and admitted as evidence during Wednesday’s proceedings included a letter from the Nigeria Police to the United States Embassy (dated February 3, 2003), a letter from the United States Embassy to the Nigeria Police (dated February 4, 2003), and U.S. visas and immigration documents spanning from 2011 to 2021.
