Tinubu, Shettima, APC close defence, as PEPT adjourns for written addresses

Proceedings at the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) at the Court of Appeal Headquarters in Abuja closed surprisingly after the respondents agreed to end their defence with a sole witness I the stands during Wednesday’s hearing.

This is just as the PEPT ruled to adjourn further proceedings till a later date to begin hearing on written addresses by petitioners and replies by respondents at a date to be communicated to all parties.

During Wednesday’s proceedings, the respondents, including President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) as second, third and fourth respondents, respectively, closed their defence after calling Senator Mike Opeyemi Bamidele as witness to the stand.

Senator Bamidele from Ekiti State told the court he is a registered member of the American Bar Association.

However, after his testimony, the respondents all stated that they had agreed to close their defence in the petitions filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, as well as the Labour Party (LP) with its flagbearer, Peter Obi, all challenging the declaration by the Independent Nation al Electoral Commission (INEC) of Bola Tinubu as winner of the February 25, 2023 presidential elections in Nigeria, on March 1.

Under examination by the respondents’ counsel, Wole Olanipekun SAN, the witness after taking an oath with a Bible identified himself as Mike Opeyemi Bamidele, a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and lawyer. He stated his address, academic qualifications, where there were obtained from and added that he has been practicing law since 1999.

His résumé and Witness Statement on Oath (WSOO) was tendered and admitted as he also deposed in his WSOO that votes in Kano state were  improperly recorded and had a shortfall of about 10, 929 votes.

Bamidele said he could identify ECOWAS report signed by H.E Ernest Bai Koroma, Former President of S/Leone and current head of ECOWAS Observer Mission in Nigeria but he had not read it thoroughly prior to the court hearing, but he identified a letter from Peter Obi forwarding the membership list of Anambra State’s LP members to INEC .

Witness confirmed he is the former Chairman, Senate committee on Judiciary and appointed APC majority leader yesterday (Tuesday), confirming also that the register of LP members submitted does not have Obi’s name.

Bamidele also disclosed that he is a practicing Attorney in the US and Nigeria, as he affirmed that Tinubu ‘has a clean record, no criminal conviction, charge or sentence’.

“I have been friends with Tinubu for 35 years and Tinubu is a Nigerian citizen and has a clean bill of health to run for office,” the witness told the court.

He admitted that in his witness statement on oath, he mentioned that they will rely on both local and international observers; until he was shown the damning EU report on the elections by the LP counsel during cross examination.

The EU report was tendered but objected to by INEC, BAT/Shettima and the APC counsels.

According to Bamidele, he has a license to practice federal law in the US and admits that Tinubu forfeited $460,000 in Narcotic Trafficking Money, adding that his license to practice law does not cover Illinois, the state where the money was forfeited.

He read the order made by the Chicago court and it relied on money laundering & drug trafficking law to pass the order on Tinubu but this was pleaded in the Bat/Shett petition. Bamidele also admitted he is not an IT expert and did not view IReV to ascertain if the results there are blurred, but only saw it back then and does not have a copy of the letter written by former Inspector General of Police (IGP), now late Tafa Balogun to the United States embassy requesting for a background check to be run in Tinubu.

“After conferring with my colleagues, the evidence of this witness is sufficient. We will hereby close our case with this witness,” said counsel to Tinubu and Shettima, Mr Wole Olanipekun SAN told the court.

Corroborating, APC’s counsel Mr. L.O Fagbemi SAN responded by a,so telling the court: “On a very sober reflection it is our belief that there is no need to call any witness. We have decided that we have established our case too.”

However, mild drama ensued when the respondents’ sole witness Senator Bamidele faced Lead Counsel to the Labour Party and Obi, Dr Livy Uzoukwu during cross examination.

 “In paragraphs 136 and 56 of your Witness Statement, you said you’ll rely on reports from local and international election observers, right? Oya read out paragraph 6 of page 60 of the ECOWAS Observers Report you brought to court! Read it out and let us hear!” Uzoukwu asked the witness.

Bamidele went silent.

Also, Uzoukwu asked the witness: “In your witness statement on Page 136 of Para 56 (in Roman numerals), you mentioned that you are going to rely on international observers correct?

Bamidele replied ‘Yes’, as the petitioner’s lead counsel then presented the European Union report on the Nigerian election, and informed the court that he is tendering the document as exhibit.

Meanwhile, PDP and Atiku’s lead counsel, Chris Uche SAN while addressing the media outside the courtroom, Monday, recounted how a witness, a certified election observer, testified that only 31 per cent of the results uploaded on the INEC Result Viewing portal (IREV) added up mathematically.

“We are very happy that today, the final report of an international observer group that was accredited by INEC, that is, the European Union Observer Mission, was tendered and admitted into evidence by the court. And a witness, who is a Director in INEC, read out the EU’s findings in that report, which clearly stated that the February 25 fell below expectations.

“The witness also stated that only thirty-one percent of the results uploaded on IREV is mathematically correct. So, we think this is a very good one for our case,” said Uche.

He further revealed that the court admitted into evidence the final report of an international observer group, the European Union Observer Mission, which was accredited by INEC. The witness, who is a Director in INEC, read out the EU’s findings from that report, stating that the election held on February 25 had fallen below expectations.

The PDP’s legal team was pleased with the admission of the EU report, as it bolstered their case regarding the integrity of the election. The witness’s testimony, along with the EU’s findings, highlighted discrepancies in the uploaded results and raised concerns about the accuracy and transparency of the electoral process.

“This development adds weight to the PDP’s claims that the election was marred by irregularities and undermines the credibility of the results announced by INEC. The party’s lawyers will likely use this evidence to support their argument that the election should be nullified or that a new election should be conducted,” the counsel added.