Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have submitted certified true copies of President Bola Tinubu's academic and work records to the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC).
The tribunal accepted the documents as evidence on Friday.
Among the documents presented were Tinubu's National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate, a certificate from Chicago State University, and a Mobil Nigeria Oil Company Plc certificate of service. Also included were a computer-generated copy of a Guinean passport bearing Tinubu's name, as well as a notarized document showing the criminal forfeiture of $460,000, along with the certified cover note notarizing it.
The petitioners introduced the documents through a subpoenaed witness named Mike Enahoro-Eba, who described himself as a private legal practitioner. The purpose was to support their claims that President Tinubu was ineligible to participate in the February 25 presidential election and that the election was marred by irregularities. Alongside the documents, the petitioners presented a certificate of compliance and a witness statement on oath to substantiate the allegations made in their petition against the outcome of the election.
During the proceedings, Enahoro-Eba informed the court that the NYSC certificate submitted by Tinubu to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) along with his nomination form bore the name Tinubu Bola Adekunle. He also revealed that the transcript from South West College, which was submitted as evidence of admission to Chicago State University, stated the applicant's gender as female.
Under cross-examination by the lead counsel for INEC, Abubakar Mahmoud, the witness stated that he was present in Abuja during the election and voted. He attested that the electoral process was smooth, from his accreditation to casting his vote and leaving the polling unit. Additionally, Enahoro-Eba disclosed that he had filed a public interest lawsuit challenging Tinubu's eligibility to contest the presidential election at a Magistrate Court.
In earlier proceedings, the petitioners presented certified true copies of Form EC8A series, which contained the results of the presidential election from various polling units across six states. These states were Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu, Imo, and Kogi, encompassing a total of 121 local government areas.
Although all respondents, including INEC, President Tinubu, and the All Progressives Congress (APC), objected to the admissibility of the documents, they expressed their intention to provide reasons for their objections during the final address stage. The petitioners urged the court to dismiss the respondents' objections and admit the documents as evidence. Justice Haruna Tsammani, the chairman of the court, admitted the documents and appropriately marked them.
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