…Documents submitted to INEC belongs to a black American – Lawyer
As the controversy surrounding the Chicago State University (CSU) documents submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) continues to rage, Presidential Candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar has stated that the major aim of his quest to unseat President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is to enthrone truth, morality and accountability in public affairs.
Atiku in a World Press Conference at Shehu Yar’adua Centre, Abuja noted that the country is bigger than all the citizens adding that every leader in the country is bound to advance the well-being of the citizens of the country. He solicited the support of Presidential Candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi and that of New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) Rabiu Kwankwaso to join him to dethrone President Tinubu.
He paid glowing tribute to late legal Luminary, Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN) who initiated the legal battle 23 years ago, as well as David Hundeyin who provided insight into the investigation.
He said, “This quest is not for or about Atiku Abubakar. It is a quest for the enthronement of truth, morality, and accountability in our public affairs.
“I am calling on all well-meaning Nigerians, leaders of thought, our religious leaders, our traditional leaders, our community leaders, our political leaders, and in particular, Governor Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of the NNPP and, the leaders of every political party in Nigeria, and, indeed, every single person who loves this country, as I do, and who wishes nothing but the best for the country, as I do, to join me in this campaign to enshrine probity, accountability and the basic principles of justice, morality and uprightness in our country and in our government.
“I would only drop the fight when the court rules, if the court rules that I am right, if the court rules that he is right, that is the end of the fight. At the moment, we are at the Supreme Court, and there is no higher court than the Supreme Court.”.
Atiku said that contrary to insinuations in the public space, he never betrayed President Bola Tinubu. He disclosed that his political alliance with Tinubu came to an end in 2007, when he (Tinubu) lobbied to to become his (Atiku) running mate, but the move was rejected on the grounds of Muslim-Muslim ticket.
He said, “In 2007 we came together to form CAN and in Lagos at the convention, I emerged and I got the ticket. After the convention, a few of our friends who are here met me and told me Bola wants to be my running mate. So, I asked of their opinion on Muslim-Muslim tickets. All of them said they objected, so, I asked them why didn’t they tell him. So that was the end of our political relationship, it broke away as he went ahead and supported Yar’adua.
“Till today, I will not do Muslim-Muslim ticket, it is absolutely wrong and not right. We are multi ethnic, and multi religious”.
Atiku’s lawyer, Kalu Kalu (SAN) who also spoke during the conference said that the court in the United Kingdom distanced themselves from the certificate Tinubu tendered to INEC. He equally pointed out the discrepancies in the NYSC Certificate Tinubu submitted to INEC.
Narrating what transpired at the court in England he said, “We were told that Bola Ahmed Tinubu forged the certificate he presented to INEC.
“Two, that the qualifying certificates from Southwest College to Chicago bears a female indicating that the document does not belong to Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“Also, the CSU admission has a claim that Bola Ahmed Tinubu attended government college, Lagos and graduated in 1970 when indeed, the school was established in 1974.
“The same document under deposition says that the A in Bola A Tinubu is Ahmed, but the NYSC certificate Bola Ahmed Tinubu Submitted to INEC has Adekunle”.
On the question of whether the new documents will be admitted by the Supreme Court he responded, “It’s very clear that from the decided authorities, the Supreme Court has held that they can accept a party to adduce fresh evidence, as long as certain conditions are met and from what transpired in the proceedings in US courts, that condition is going to be met.
“So as we speak, our Law is very clear that a party at fault cannot be allowed to enjoy the fruit of his illegality”.
Recall that Caleb Westberg, CSU school’s Registrar, while speaking under oath and penalty of perjury, said the certificate dated June 22, 1979, and tendered before INEC on June17, 2022, was not issued by the school’s administration, adding that “ its administrators could not authenticate its source”
Westberg who is the School’s registrar since November, 2020 during the deposition that lasted for about 5.5 hours, added that “Tinubu did not apply for any replacement, nor was any issued to him”
Tinubu had claimed that a replacement was issued to him by the institution on the 27th of June, 1997.
The certificate Tinubu is parading was said to have been signed by Elnora Daniel and Niva Lublin who were not even at the school in 1979.
With the revelations coming out of the President’s certificate saga, there are speculations that the President may have violated the provisions of Section 137( 1) (j) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria ( as amended).
Section 137(1)(j), specifically states that no one can be elected into the office of the President if he or she presents a forged certificate to INEC.
The case before the Supreme Court must be decided on or before December 6, 2023, as stipulated in the electoral act, 2022.
The documents further revealed that the name Bola Ahmed Tinubu belonged to a female name – Adenike Abimbola Tinubu, a US citizen, based on her social security number.
