By Jude Opara, Abuja

President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima have opened their case at the presidential election petition court.

At the resumed session yesterday, Wole Olanipekun, counsel to Tinubu and Shettima, tendered several documents in their defence, including the president’s academic documents from the Chicago State University.

The documents tendered are itemised below.

A letter from the Nigeria police to the United States embassy dated February 3, 2023.

A letter from the United States embassy to the Nigeria police dated February 4, 2023.

12 documents of the 2nd respondent (Tinubu) containing educational records from the Chicago State University.

Six documents detailing US visas and immigration documents between 2011 and 2021. All were duly certified by the Nigeria Immigration Service on July 3, 2023.

Copy of reports of the committee on the location of the federal capital territory of Nigeria. The document is certified by the Archives and History Bureau of the FCT, with payment receipts attached dated April 13, 2023.

A copy of form EC8D for Kano state in respect of the February 25th presidential election.

A copy of form EC8D(A) in respect of the February 25th presidential election.

Originating summons in SC/CV/354/2023 dated February 28, 2023, filed by the AGs of Adamawa, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and Sokoto states.

Items nine to 14 tendered were copies of different national newspapers.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP) and their candidates, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, are challenging Tinubu’s victory in the February 25 presidential poll.

They allege that Tinubu failed to disclose details of his academic qualifications in Form EC9.

The petitioners are also alleging that the president distorted his age and has conflicting academic and personal records.

Atiku said Tinubu failed to secure 25 percent of the vote cast in the federal capital territory (FCT) as constitutionally required.

INEC Calls One Witness, Closes Case in Obi, LP Petition

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has closed its defence in the petition filed by Peter Obi and the Labour Party (LP) before the presidential election petition court.

At the court session yesterday, Lawrence Bayode, an information technology practitioner, was led in evidence by Abubakar Mahmoud, INEC counsel.

Before the witness was called, INEC tendered some documents which were admitted and marked as exhibits.

During cross-examination, Bayode said blurred documents downloaded from the result viewing portal do not affect the polling unit results recorded in forms EC8As.

He said photographic copies of forms EC8A captured with the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS) and transmitted to IReV, are not relevant for the collation of results.

The witness also told the court that the glitch recorded during the presidential poll did not affect the credibility of election results.

He said only physical results (forms EC8As) are used for collating final election results.

After the witness was discharged, Mahmoud told the court that they had no other witness to call.

Wole Olanipekun, counsel to President Bola Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima, told the court that he would open their defence on Wednesday.

The five-member panel led by Haruna Tsammani thereafter adjourned the case to Wednesday.

In the petition marked CA/PEPC/03/2023, Obi and the LP are challenging Tinubu’s victory in the February 25 presidential election.

Commission Receives 216 Case Files on Suspended Adamawa REC, Others

The Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, yesterday said the commission has received 216 case files from the Nigeria Police on the 2023 general elections.

Yakubu stated this in Abuja during the commission meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs), which commenced the commission post-election review of the general elections.

Yakubu said that the case files were for the suspended Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Adamawa State, Hudu Yunusa-Ari and other 215 electoral offenders in the general elections.

He said that INEC was presently looking at all the evidence of infractions during the election, inclding the prosecution of offenders.

He added that INEC was looking at the activities of all actors involved in the election, including some of the commission’s high-ranking officials.

“I can confirm that the Nigeria Police concluded its investigation of the conduct of our REC in Adamawa State and submitted the case file to us. Appropriate action will be taken in a matter of days and Nigerians will be fully informed.

“I can also confirm that we have received 215 case files from the Nigeria Police following their arrest and the conclusion of investigation into electoral offences arising from the 2023 General Election.’’ Yakubu said.

He said that INEC was working with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to prosecute the alleged offenders.

“Already, the NBA has submitted a list of 427 lawyers across the country who have volunteered to render pro bono services to the Commission.

“They are not charging legal fees but by mutual agreement the Commission will provide a token amount to cover for filing fees/expenses. We are most grateful to NBA and its President, Yakubu Maikyau, for this historic collaboration.

“Similarly, we are working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) on the prosecution of cases relating to vote buying and associated violations,’  Yakubu said.

He also said that INEC had so far received reports from 54 accredited national and international observers.

Yakubu pledged that INEC would give equal prominence to all the reports and review them in a holistic manner to ensure that necessary lessons were learnt from their conclusions and recommendations.

“As a Commission, we hope to continue to count on the support of stakeholders to improve the electoral process in Nigeria,” he said

Yakubu said that in the next few weeks, several internal debriefing meetings would be held, culminating in engagements with stakeholders.

He called on the RECs, as well as INEC senior officials to lead the discussion on all aspects of the election from preparations, conduct and aftermath frankly and constructively.

Yakubu listed areas the review expected to cover to include operational processes for the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) and general elections.

Others are Legal framework for the conduct of elections; and political parties registration, primaries and nomination of candidates for the election

“Technologies deployed in the electoral process, including the INEC Voter Enrolment Device (IVED); INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV);

“Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS); party nomination portal; observer, media and polling/collation agents’ accreditation portals etc., focusing particularly on their performance;

“Effectiveness of overall administrative procedures and channels within the Commission in the coordination and execution of pre-election, election and post-election activities,’’ Yakubu listed among others.

He said aside the review, INEC was also preparing for governorship elections in Kogi, Imo and Bayelsa as well as four other by-elections.

“The by-election was as a result of resignation in the case of Surulere 1 Federal Constituency of Lagos State.

“Death in respect of Jalingo/Yorro/Zing Federal Constituency of Taraba State, Chibok State Constituency of Borno State and Chikun State Constituency of Kaduna State.

“Let me at this point specifically reiterate to the RECs that we are commencing these debriefings with you because you are central to the conduct of elections.

“Many of you performed very well during the general election under extremely challenging circumstances. I commend you for that.

“However, a few of you did not properly manage the tasks lawfully bestowed upon you for which the Commission has taken some administrative action. I urge you to remain loyal to your oath of office,” Yakubu said. (NAN)