The Supreme Court has declined to accept fresh evidence against the election of President Bola Tinubu in an application by the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar.
Atiku had applied to tender academic records of President Tinubu obtained from Chicago State University as fresh evidence against Tinubu.
But leading other justices at the sitting, Justice Inyang Okoro declared that Atiku failed to convince the Supreme Court why he waited until the PEPC concluded the appellant’s suit.
Justice Okoro said Atiku’s lawyers were tardy and not diligent in obtaining the documents from CSU.
He ruled that on these grounds, the application is hereby dismissed and refused.
Justice Okoro noted that Atiku’s attempt to introduce fresh evidence with a view to extend the time to adjudicate the case is unfortunate.
Consequently, he said, since the Presidential Election Petition Court has no jurisdiction to entertain fresh evidence, the Supreme Court has no jurisdiction to accept fresh evidence.
He said it has to be noted that the 180 days imposed is immutable, and cannot be extended.
According to him, on this application, fresh evidence is not received as a matter of cause.
After the expiration of the time limit by the Electoral Act, he said petitioner shall not be allowed to amend their petitions after the 21 days allowed by law.
Citing section 182 of the Electoral Ect, Justice Okoro says Atiku failed to apply to the court to amend his petition to bring fresh evidence against Tinubu.
He says it is shocking to have Atiku’s argument in print knowing how election petitions have suffered delays in the past.
Justice Okoro said it is unfortunate to go back to the dark old days.
He said he has carefully perused the record of appeal. According to him, Atiku filed the appeal on the last day of the time frame allowed to lodge an appeal.
The 180 days prescribed by the law lapsed on 17 September 2023. In the circumstance of this case, he said the case cannot activate Section 22 of the Supreme Court Act to admit fresh evidence.
He added that jurisdiction is the fulcrum upon which a court’s decisions are based.
For this court to receive fresh evidence, the application runs foul of the evidence act, he said.
He says the jurisdiction of the court is at the foundation of adjudication.
Justice Okoro recalls Chris Uche’s arguments regarding the difficulty in obtaining Tinubu’s academic records from CSU. He says he will start from the beginning which is on jurisdiction.
He says it is crystal clear that the law of Nigeria does not allow anyone to adduce additional evidence on appeal, according to the Lead Counsel to Tinubu, Wole Olanikpekun.
The Justice recounts President Tinubu’s effort to thwart the release of his Chicago State University (CSU) academic documents to Atiku and how the President’s request was overruled by a US Court.
He says Tinubu filed an 11-paragraph counter affidavit to Atiku’s application to tender fresh evidence against the President.
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