The Presidential Election Petitions Court has admitted President Bola Tinubu's credentials from Chicago State University as exhibits during his defense against a petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Abubakar Atiku, challenging his election victory.
During the proceedings, the court accepted the educational documents presented by Tinubu's lead counsel, Wole Olanipekun, which included his admission letter from the American university, among others, to establish his attendance and graduation.
In an effort to prove that he had visited the United States between 2011 and 2021 without any hindrance, Tinubu also submitted his American visa documents along with his Chicago State University credentials.
These documents were presented to refute the allegations of criminality raised in the petition against him. Additionally, the President provided all relevant documents from the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) that cleared him for his trips to the US.
Furthermore, the court admitted an exhibit consisting of a letter from the US Embassy dated April 4, 2003. This letter served as a response to a previous communication from the Nigeria Police Force dated February 3, 2003, which stated that the embassy possessed no criminal records of Tinubu in the US.
Despite objections raised by the PDP and former Vice President Abubakar, the court deemed the documents admissible. However, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), who are the first and third respondents in the petition, did not oppose the admission of these documents.
In addition to the educational records, the court also accepted an originating summons from a suit initiated at the Supreme Court by the Attorneys General of Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, and Sokoto states. The suit challenges Tinubu's educational background as it pertains to his eligibility to run for the 2023 presidential election.
Following the submission of documentary evidence to support the President's case, his legal team requested an adjournment to allow for the calling of oral witnesses.
Earlier in the day, the electoral commission concluded its defense in the petition filed by the Labour Party after presenting one witness at the Tribunal.
The witness, Lawrence Bayode, an ICT expert, acknowledged that some of the results downloaded from INEC's portal were blurred. However, under cross-examination, he maintained that the results released by the commission for the presidential election were authentic.
Disagreeing with Bayode's statement, Patrick Ikwueto, the lawyer representing the Labour Party, argued that the results could not be considered authentic when they were largely unreadable.