President Bola Tinubu has submitted copies of his academic credentials from the Chicago State University and a letter from the United States Embassy in Nigeria to the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) as part of his defence in the petition challenging his victory in the 2023 election.
The petition was filed by Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who alleged that Tinubu was not qualified to contest the election because he did not possess a valid school certificate and that he had a criminal record in the US.
Tinubu, through his lawyer, Wole Olanipekun (SAN), presented 12 documents certified by Jamar C. Orr, the Associate General Counsel, Office of the Legal Affairs, Chicago State University, showing his academic records from the institution where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration in 1979.
He also tendered a letter dated July 23, 2007 from the US Embassy in Nigeria, stating that Tinubu had no criminal liability in the US and that he was eligible for a non-immigrant visa. The letter was in response to a request from the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to verify Tinubu’s status in the US.
In addition, Tinubu submitted six copies of documents relating to immigration and visa records of trips made to the US by him between 2011 and 2021, among other documents.
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday concluded its defence in the petition by Peter Obi and the Labour Party (LP) before the PEPT.
INEC’s lawyer, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN) called one witness, Dr. Lawrence Bayode, who is a Deputy Director in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Department of INEC.
Bayode testified that the images of Forms EC8A captured with BVAS and transmitted to IREv were not relevant for the collation of results. He also said that even if blurred documents were downloaded from IREV, that would not affect the physical results as recorded in Forms EC8As which were not blurred.
The PEPT adjourned till Wednesday for further hearing.
