By Olukayode Idowu
Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and first runner up in the presidential election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on February 25, 2023, Atiku Abubakar, is slated to address world press conference on the controversy surrounding the certificate of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Sunrise News recalled that the Chicago State University (CSU) had on Tuesday, in response to a court order in a matter where the PDP candidate has subpoenaed the university to provide academic evidence of the president.
A statement released to the press conference invitation reads: “This is to inform and invite you to the world press conference of our presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar at the Yar’Adua centre on Thursday.”
The statement was however silent on the time for the event which Sunrise News gathered might not be unconnected to the sensitivity of the subject of the conference.
Atiku, sunrise News recalled, had secured the release of Tinubu’s education records from the CSU through a court subpoena. The released record which came on October 3, and a deposition on Tuesday by the school showed that there might be discrepancy between Tinubu’s 1979 CSU certificate which he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, was different from the samples of certificates the university issued to students that same year.
Also under oath, CSU officials have affirmed that they could not authenticate the certificate Tinubu presented to INEC.
Recall that Atiku had lost the bid to have Tinubu’s victory upturned at the Presidential Election Tribunal (PET), which in a unanimous decision affirmed the victory of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The verdict was immediately appealed by Atiku Abubakar at the Supreme Court, which reserved the right to give it’s verdict within a stipulated time in line with the Electoral Act 2023, as amended and the Constitution 1999 as amended.
Only on Wednesday, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Olukayode Ariwoola while swearing in new sets of Judges of the High Court at the Federal Capital, Abuja, declared that public opinion does not have any influence at all in the judgments of judges.
