The Supreme Court, on Thursday threw out the motion by former Vice President and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, seeking leave of court to file fresh evidence in his appeal against the victory of President Bola Tinubu, in the February 25, presidential election.
The Petitioner pleaded the apex court to grant him leave to bring in additional evidence by way of depositions on oath from the Chicago State University for use in his appeal to wit: the certified discovery deposition made by Caleb Westberg on behalf of Chicago State University on October 3, 2023, disclaiming the certificate presented by the 2nd respondent, Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The motion dated 5th October but filed on the 6th, contained a 32-page deposition released to the former Vice President on the orders of Judge Nancy Maldonado of the District Court of Illinois, Eastern Division, Illinois, United States of America.
Ruling on the motion, Justice John Inyang Okoro, held that a clinical look at the issues formulated by all the parties, it is clear that the argument is whether this court as presently constituted has the power to grant the motion.
According to the panel, out of the 7 issues distilled by Atiku for determination, none related or covered forgery, which the appellant is seeking to bring in.
It maintained that 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.
It noted that Atiku did not even deem it fit to file for an amendment of his pleadings and for extension of time, since the 180 days allowed by the Constitution had elapsed since September 17, 2023.
