Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president and PDP candidate, filed an application with the Supreme Court on February 25, asking for permission to submit more evidence in support of his appeal against President Bola Tinubu’s win. The motion was denied.
In his decision on the request, Justice John Okoro stated that the question of whether the court as it currently exists has the authority to grant the application is best answered by taking a critical look at the arguments put up by each party.
According to Okoro, none of the seven issues that Atiku narrowed down for consideration had anything to do with the appellant’s intended accusation of falsification.
“The Constitution does not permit that, and this court has no jurisdiction to grant the filing of fresh evidence that was not pleaded at the PEPC”.
The Supreme Court observed that since September 17, 2023, had passed, the 180 days permitted by the Constitution, Atiku did not even think it appropriate to file for an amendment of his pleadings and for an extension of time.
In the October 5th motion, Atiku pleaded with the Supreme Court to allow him to introduce supplementary evidence in the form of oath depositions from Chicago State University, which he intended to use in his appeal. Specifically, he requested permission to introduce the certified discovery deposition taken on October 3, 2023, by Caleb Westberg on behalf of Chicago State University, which refuted the certificate that Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the second respondent, had presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
On the instruction of Judge Nancy Maldonado of the District Court of Illinois, Eastern Division, Illinois, United States of America, the 32-page deposition was given to the former Vice President. In NAN