BREAKING: Atiku’s Camp Reacts After INEC Declared CSU Evidence Inadmissible, Speculates Implication
- The dispute arising from Nigeria's 2023 presidential election which produced Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the winner is a fight to finish
- Atiku Abubakar is at the Supreme Court seeking to unseat Tinubu after a discovery at the Chicago State University where the president schooled in the 70s
- But INEC has continued to defend the election it conducted which brought Tinubu to power, while also not associating itself with the oppositions' grouses
Chicago, USA - Demola Olarewaju has criticised the alleged attempt by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to “cover the mess of an election it carried out”.
Olarewaju, the Special Assistant on Digital Media Strategy to Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 2023 election, said the electoral body has been indicted “as an agent of state rigging”.
Supreme Court: “Tinubu’s team's claims on how he got CSU certificate wasn't presented”, PDP chieftain
"INEC shouldn't have opposed CSU 'evidence'"
According to the media aide of the former vice president, INEC “had no business” asking the Supreme Court to not admit as evidence President Tinubu’s certificate that was released to the PDP candidate by the Chicago State University (CSU), USA.
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Furthermore, Olarewaju opined that Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the INEC chairman, “is the worst electoral chief ever in Nigeria”.
It would be recalled that Atiku’s legal team had a tough time on Monday, October 23, trying to convince the apex court as to why he (Atiku) should be allowed to tender new evidence.
Counsel for Atiku and the PDP, Chris Uche (SAN), made a motion and said it was for leave to present fresh evidence based on a deposition on oath from Caleb Westberg, the CSU registrar.
However, the Supreme Court held that the deposition cannot qualify as a court document.
In a similar vein, INEC's lawyer, Abubakar Mahmoud, described the motion by Atiku and the PDP as misconceived and misdirected. Mahmoud urged the court to dismiss it.
Reacting, Olarewaju wrote on his verified X (formerly Twitter handle) on Tuesday, October 24:
“INEC’s attempt to cover the mess of an election it carried out is an indictment of the electoral agency as an agent of state rigging - they had no business yesterday opposing the admission of the evidence that indicts Tinubu.
"Yakubu Mahmud is in my view the worst electoral chief ever in Nigeria.”
Supreme Court reserves judgement in Atiku's appeal
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the Supreme Court reserved judgement on the appeal by Atiku and the PDP.
The appeal is against the September 6 judgment of the Tribunal which affirmed the victory of President Tinubu in the 2023 election.
Source: Legit.ng