On Tuesday, May 30, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, presented a substantial number of exhibits, totaling 118, before the five-member panel of the Presidential Election Petition Court. These exhibits were presented as part of Atiku’s case against President Bola Tinubu.
Atiku and the PDP had approached the tribunal to challenge the declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that Tinubu, who ran under the All Progressives Congress (APC), emerged as the winner of the election held on February 25.
The presentation of the exhibits by Atiku Abubakar and his legal team is a significant step in their effort to contest the election results and seek redress through the legal process.
During the hearing on Tuesday, the petitioners, Atiku Abubakar and the PDP, made specific allegations against President Bola Tinubu. They claimed that Tinubu was not duly elected by the majority of lawful votes cast in the election and that he was not qualified to contest in the first place. The petitioners also raised concerns regarding inconsistencies in Tinubu’s age and school certificates.
At the beginning of the hearing, Atiku’s lawyer, Eyitayo Jegede, presented the first set of exhibits on behalf of the petitioner. These exhibits included certified copies of the presidential election results from all 36 states of the federation, as well as the Federal Capital Territory. These documents were submitted as evidence to support the claims made by Atiku and the PDP in their case against President Tinubu.
The petitioners also presented additional exhibits, including printouts of data obtained from the bimodal voter accreditation system and records of the number of permanent voter cards used during the election across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. These exhibits were admitted as evidence by the court.
During the hearing, the petitioners did not call any witnesses to testify. The respondents, on the other hand, informed the court that they would reserve their objections to any of the documents presented until their final written address, which means they would address any objections to the exhibits at a later stage in the proceedings.
