THE 2023 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION PETITION TRIBUNAL: A Perspective

As I watched the depositions at the Presidential petition tribunal, I realized that the LP and PDP are making a mistake by avoiding the real issues of the election. By bringing in only pre-election and extraneous issues like Tinubu's academic/certificate, and drug case, APC's legal team helmed by Wole Olanipekun will make them look like fools when APC/Tinubu start their defence. 

No one needs a lawyer to tell them that not staying on real issues of the election is a waste of time. There must be incontrovertible evidence for LP/PDP to prove that their election result was manipulated and that the election was conducted in a way that contravened the Electoral Act, making the election a completely flawed one that cannot be upheld by INEC.

After they closed their petitions, I did not see anything they brought to court to change the course of the election as declared by INEC. As usual, because our people deploy emotions more than reason on every matter, just like you see in the young girl that forged the JAMB result, they would keep making noise over non-issues. Emotions don't win cases. Incontrovertible evidence that's above every reasonable doubt wins cases. 

When APC/Tinubu started their defence, Wole Olanipekun who is the most successful senior lawyer in Nigeria when it comes to election petition cases dropped only a few certified documents to dismiss the two non-electoral matters LP/PDP brought before the court.  

For their petition about Tinubu’s non-academic status, he submitted copies of his admission letter, degree certificate and a letter from Chicago State University confirming he was a student and graduated from the university with honours and was an outstanding student in his department.  

Concerning the drug petition, Olanipekun also dropped two letters. One was written by the Nigerian Police to the US Embassy requesting the criminal record of the defendant. A reply from the United States Embassy dated this year confirmed that Tinubu never had any record of drug cases or criminal records in the USA.  

The petitioner also alleged Tinubu cannot enter the US. Wole Olanipekun also dropped other documents including PBAT's visa entries to the USA up to 2021 showing US immigration entry stamps at the US points of entry. Now, the tribunal even in the face of objection from the petitioners admitted those shreds of evidence as good enough for defence. 

Now, to the main matter of the elections, LP/PDP used all these few months to bring witnesses to prove that the iRev server had no glitches or technical problems as alleged by INEC and that INEC only conspired with APC by not transmitting the result live to the iRev server in real-time. See, there is no case. The question is, does the inability to transmit the result to the iRev in real-time change the result of the presidential elections as recorded in the form EC8? This is witnessed by all party agents in each polling unit across the country, in which all the parties have a copy of the said form EC8. The answer is no! 

Is transmitting results live in real time a legal and constitutional requirement under the Electoral Act 2022 as amended? The answer is no! The law only empowers INEC to use BVAS for accreditation and whatever means administratively necessary to ensure elections are held transparently. In other words, INEC is the only body that can determine how they want results from the states transmitted to the National Collation Centre. It is INEC's prerogative. While they planned to transmit but unfortunately could not, it does not invalidate the election result in any other way. Especially when all parties already have the results in their hands ab-initio through their polling agents. 

Is there any major thing that could have invalidated the result of the election as announced by INEC? The answer is yes! What would have mattered was to point out places where BVAS accreditation did not take place, to argue about figures manipulation but they did not do that. 

Tinubu called only one witness. Barrister Opeyemi Bamidele, the Senate Majority Leader is the one stone that Tinubu used to kill all the lazy birds of PDP and LP. That witness is a US trained Lawyer who knows the US law and had practiced, still practising in the US, since decades. So, he is the best man to inform the court about Chicago State University, about the fake charges that never existed. He is also a senior political figure in Nigeria who participated in the 2023 general election.

Let's keep following the case at the tribunal. However, remember that it is evident that LP/PDP have no case and they both know.