July 05, (THEWILL) – President Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday, told the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), that his counterpart in the February 25 presidential election, Peter Obi, was not qualified to contest the 2023 General elections under the Labour Party (LP).
Obi and his Party are challenging the declaration of Bola Tinubu as winner of the 2023 Presidential election.
Tinubu had argued in his response to the petition by Obi and the LP, that, not being a member of the party as at the time of the last presidential election, Obi was not qualified to have contested the last election on the platform of the LP.
While opening his defence against the Petitioners on Wednesday, Tinubu, through his team of lawyers, led by Wole Olanipekun (SAN), presented the membership register of the Labour Party in Anambra State to prove his claim that Peter Obi was not a registered member of the party and not qualified to contest the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the LP.
Olanipekun (SAN) tendered the document along with LP’s letter, dated April 25, 2022, forwarding the membership register to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He also tendered educational documents comprising the admission letter offered the president by Chicago State University as well as a United States of America visa from 2011 to 2021, among others, as part of evidence to establish Tinubu’s attendance and graduation at the American University.
Meanwhile, in defence of the competence of the joint ticket of Tinubu and Vice President, Kashim Shettima, the defence counsel also tendered a Certified True copy (CTC) of the VP’s voluntary resignation letter as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Borno Central senatorial District.
The letter is intended to prove that the Vice President resigned his senatorial candidacy before his selection as the vice presidential candidate of the APC.
Although lawyer to the petitioners, Livy Uzoukwu (SAN), objected to the documents, the court, however, admitted them and marked them as Exhibits RA17 and RA18.
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