Atiku Abubakar, PDP Presidential Candidate
The Supreme Court dismisses CSU Certificate evidence. Atiku Abubakar and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) regarding the Chicago State University (CSU) diploma submitted by Mr. Tinubu to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The Court’s ruling can be summarized as follows:
First and foremost, the Court rejected the application, citing a lack of jurisdiction due to the expiration of the 180-day timeline designated for the determination of election petitions. Additionally, the Supreme Court stated that it could not accept fresh evidence on appeal, given that the trial period at the Court of Appeal had already concluded. The Court highlighted that the original petition submitted by Atiku did not include the facts of forgery, and no application was made to amend the petition or extend the timeframe.
Moreover, the ruling revealed that the Brief of Argument presented by Atiku did not address issues related to certificate forgery and the conditions for introducing fresh evidence on appeal were not met