AKINWALE ABOLUWADE
The first witness in the election petition between Peter Obi of the Labour Party and President Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress was called in court on Tuesday.
The LP’s witness, namely Lawrence Nwakaeti, a legal practitioner, deposed to the witness statement on March 20.Jibrin Okutepa, counsel for the LP and its presidential candidate, indicated that documents number one to four with receipts were those where vice president Kashim Shettima accepted his nomination as the vice-presidential candidate of the APC.
The documents also referred to the alleged $460,000 forfeiture by Tinubu to the government of the United States.
The LP and Obi are praying the court to nullify Tinubu’s victory, among other things, on the ground that he “was not qualified to contest for election to the office of President as he was fined the sum of $460,000 for an offence involving dishonesty, namely narcotics trafficking imposed by the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, in Case No: 93C 4483.”
During cross-examination, the witness admitted that the judgment was not registered in Nigeria and that there was no certificate from the Consular in Nigeria or America to support the judgment.Nwakaeti said, however, that “the judgment speaks for itself.”
However, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, APC counsel, asked, “As a lawyer, you are aware that these documents are not registered in Nigeria and there is no certificate attached to the document from the US?” In his response, Nwakaeti said that there were certificates.
Asked if there was a certificate from the US consular, Nwakaeti said,“No certificate from the consular,” adding that he had no knowledge of a February 4, 2003, Formal Clearance Report by Legal Attachee from the American Embassy in respect of the alleged indictment and forfeiture.
The witness was unable to produce a copy of the charges against Tinubu, on the ground that he had none but maintained that the forfeiture were from civil proceedings.
He said that “You are aware that all the proceedings were civil proceedings?”
Justice Haruna Tsammani shifted further hearing in the petition till May 31.
