President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday presented his academic records before the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) sitting at the Court of Appeal Headquarters in Abuja.
Tinubu also tendered the academic records obtained from the Chicago State University in the United States of America to counter a suit by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, challenging his victory as Nigeria’s president.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), had declared President Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the presidential election, which was held on 25 February.
But Atiku, who came second in the race and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), who came third are now challenging the outcome of the election.
Subsequently, Atiku and Obi filed petitions before the PEPC, asking it to overturn Tinubu’s victory on the grounds of alleged fraudulent academic and criminal records, among other issues, including electoral malpractices.
When the matter came up on Tuesday, Tinubu’s lead lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), tendered documents to aid the president’s case.
Olanipekun also presented academic records from the Chicago State University, where Tinubu graduated.
The Senior Advocate also tendered a letter from the US Embassy in Nigeria, clearing Tinubu of any criminal conviction or arrest in the US.
In 2003, the then Inspector-General of Police, the late Tafa Balogun, had written to the US Consular General in Lagos, requesting if Tinubu had any criminal record in the US.
Balogun’s enquiry was at the instance of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), a political party on whose platform Tinubu sought re-election as governor of Lagos State in 2003.
Balogun’s letter dated February 3, 2003 reads in part.“The screening committee of the Alliance for Democracy has written to the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters, requesting confirmation of any criminal record of conviction to date against Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the United States of America.”
In his response to the police’s enquiry, the American Consulate in Lagos said the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), National Crimes Information Centre (NCIC) ran a check on Tinubu.
In the reply dated February 4, 2003, a legal attache at the U.S. Consulate, Michael H. Bonner, disclosed that , “The results of the checks were negative for any criminal arrest records, wants, or warrants for Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
The NCIC is a centralised information centre that maintains the records of every criminal arrest and conviction within the U.S. and its territories.
In furtherance of his quest to debunk allegations of fraud against Tinubu, Olanipekun also tendered the immigration documents of Tinubu’s trips to the US between 2011 and 2021.
The Senior Advocate added that the documents were certified by the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).
Olanipekun also presented the final results of the presidential election, which declared Tinubu president-elect on March 1.
After tendering certain documentary evidence, Olanipekun told the five-member panel of the court headed by Haruna Tsammani that a “documentary foundation” had been laid for Tinubu’s case.
Olanipekun then said, “We will continue with oral evidence tomorrow by calling witnesses.
But Atiku’s lawyer, Chris Uche (SAN), opposed the admissibility of the documents.
Tinubu’s co-respondents – INEC and APC – did not oppose the tendering and admissibility of the papers in evidence.
After admitting the documents in evidence, the court consequently adjourned further hearing till Wednesday (today).
