As the Supreme Court reserves judgement in the the appeals against the election of President Bola Tinubu, one of the justices on Monday told one of the petitioners, Atiku Abubakar, that the issues involved bordered on national interest.
One of the panel members, Justice Emmanuel Agim, observed that the deposition Atiku was seeking to tender as evidence was done in the chambers of Atiku’s lawyer and not in the courtroom.
“I expected the college to write disclaiming the documents in dispute. Does a stenographer have the legal authority to administer oaths? We are dealing with a matter that touches on national interest,’’ he noted.
Addressing the apex court on Monday, Atiku’s lead counsel, Chris Uche, insisted that the issue of Tinubu’s academic records was a weighty matter and urged the Supreme Court to admit it as fresh evidence.
The senior lawyer said, “The issue involving Tinubu’s certificate is a weighty, grave, and constitutional one, which the Supreme Court should admit. I urge the court to admit the fresh evidence of President Tinubu’s academic records from CSU presented by Atiku.
“The court should take a look at Tinubu’s records and reach a decision devoid of technicality. As a policy court, the court has a duty to look at it and should side-step technicalities. ”
But the Chairman of the Supreme Court panel, Justice John Okor, while describing the matter as criminal in nature, said it must be proved beyond reasonable doubt.
He observed that there were two conflicting letters from Chicago State University.
According to him, one of the letters authenticated the President’s certificate and the other discredited it.
He said, “This is a criminal matter that has to be proved beyond reasonable doubt. There are two conflicting letters from the CSU: one authenticating the president’s certificate and another discrediting it.”
But Uche argued that the depositions were done in the presence of Tinubu’s US lawyers, adding that there was no dispute about it.
The counsel to the All Progressives Congress, Akin Olujinmi, SAN, told the court that Atiku should not be allowed to bring in documents not presented at the tribunal.
He said, “You cannot smuggle in a document into the Supreme Court without first tendering the same at the trial court. The appeal is misconceived and lacks merit. It should be outright dismissed. ”
In his response to Uche’s arguments, the lawyer to the President, Wole Olanipekun, SAN, similarly urged the court not to admit the fresh documents, adding that INEC was not a party to it.
“The depositions are not admissible in the USA. It is akin to deposition which we have in Nigeria. The deposition was not done in court and INEC was not a party to it. The deposition must be adopted by the individual that deposed to it before it can be admitted as evidence before the court,“ he reasoned.
