POLITICS

Labour Party Presents First Witness.

Published

11 months ago

May 31, 2023

Stella Charles Akupue

As the Presidential Election Petition Court sitting in Abuja, Nigeria’s Capital begins full hearing, one of the Petitioners, the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi and his Party have presented one witness to testify in the Court.

This is out of the fifty witnesses Obi and Labour Party promised to bring to the Court.

Obi and his party are challenging the outcome of the 2023 Presidential elections that produced President Bola Tinubu as President and Kashim Shetima as vice.

The Court on Tuesday in Abuja admitted in evidence a United States of America (USA) District Court judgment which reportedly indicted President Ahmed Tinubu and ordered his forfeiture of $460,000 in drug-related offences.

The true certified copy of the judgment was tendered by a witness, Barrister Lawrence Uchechukwu, at the commencement of the hearing of a petition filed by the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP,) Mr Peter Gregory Obi, against the election of Tinubu.

Labour Party Presents First Witness.

Led in evidence by Mr Jibrin Okutepa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria SAN, the witness tendered the Court’s judgment as part of requests by Obi and the Labour Party to get Tinubu’s declaration as winner of February 25, 2023, presidential election nullified and set aside.

However, Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) announced that they had objections against the admission of the judgment but reserved the objections to the final address stage.

Under cross-examination by Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN, who stood for President Tinubu, the witness admitted that the judgment was not registered in Nigeria.

The Anambra-based legal practitioner, Obi’s first witness, also admitted that no certificate from any Consular in Nigeria or America supported the judgment but insisted that “the judgment speaks for itself”.

He claimed to have been to the United States of America and read the entire judgment, adding that he would be surprised if no mention of a $460,000 forfeiture was made.

Also, under cross-examination by counsel to the APC, Prince Lateef Fagbemi SAN, the witness said that the American Court judgment had no certificate given under the hand of any American Police Officer.

Labour Party Presents First Witness.

He denied knowledge of a February 4, 2003, Formal Clearance Report by Legal Attachee from the American Embassy regarding the alleged indictment and forfeiture.

When asked by Fagbemi SAN to produce a copy of the charges against Tinubu, the witness admitted not having any but maintained that the indictment and forfeiture are from civil proceedings.

Meanwhile, the Presiding Justice of the Court, Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, has shifted further hearing in the petition to May 31.

By Salihu Ali, Abuja

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