The petition filed by Peter Obi and the Labour Party (LP) before the 2023 Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) witness a swift closing of defense by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday.
In the course of the hearing, Dr. Lawrence Bayode, a Deputy Director in INEC’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Department, was the only witness called upon by INEC’s lawyer, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN).
The witness, under cross-examination, said even if blurred documents were downloaded from IREV, that will not affect the physical results as recorded in Forms EC8As which are not blurred.
The images of Forms EC8A taken with BVAS and sent to IREv, according to Bayode, are irrelevant for the results compilation.
The witness testified before the court that the glitch encountered during the most recent presidential election had no effect on the collation of the results.
The first respondent’s case was declared closed by the INEC lawyer after the witness’ testimony.
Additionally, Mahmoud tendered some documents as evidence.
Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), the lawyer for President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettma, said that his clients will begin presenting their arguments in the suit on Wednesday.
President Tinubu Tenders Copies Of Academic Credentials, Others Before Tribunal
Before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT), President Bola Tinubu has tendered copies of his academic credentials from Chicago State University.
As he began his defense in the case filed against him by Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the President tendered copies of his educational records from Chicago State University before the Tribunal.
Along with the letter from the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) requesting assistance from the US Embassy, Tinubu, who was represented by his lawyer Wole Olanipekun (SAN), also provided a 2007 letter from the US Embassy in Nigeria clearing him of any criminal liability in the US.
The academic records from the Chicago State University, 12 documents in all, were certified on June 28, 2023 by Jamar C. Orr, the Associate General Counsel, Office of the Legal Affairs, Chicago State University.
Also tendered are six copies of documents relating to immigration and visa records of trips made to the US by Tinubu between 2011 and 2021, among other documents.
Ada Peter
