THE Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Campaign Organisation has said it is not aware of a suit by the Action Alliance, AA, seeking to disqualify Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress, APC, from the 2023 presidential poll because it has not been served with the process.
The AA approached the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, asking it to bar the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, from including the name of the APC in the ballot for the 2023 presidential election.
The party, in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/954/2022, equally applied for an order to restrain the electoral body from accepting the name of Senator Bola Tinubu as candidate of the APC in the presidential election.
According to reports, when contacted, the Legal Director of the Tinubu Campaign Organisation, Mr, Babatunde Ogala, SAN, said: “We have not been served with the process and will await same before being able to respond.”
AA’s suit
The plaintiff predicated its request on the claim that both the APC and its presidential candidate, Tinubu, are not qualified to participate in the impending presidential election over alleged forgery it said was committed in 1999.
It alleged that Tinubu forged the University of Chicago certificate he submitted in 1999 in aid of his qualification for the 1999 governorship election in Lagos State.
NEC, APC and Tinubu were cited as 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants in the suit.
In a 16-paragraph statement on oath deposed by one Kalu Agu, the plaintiff averred: “The 3rd defendant is a person who is not qualified for election to the office of President of Nigeria on the grounds of alleged forgery.”
According to the deponent, the 3rd defendant provided false information and attached forged documents in the Form CF001 he submitted to INEC in 1999 in aid of his qualification for the governorship poll.
Fuss over Tinubu’s certificate a non-issue — Uzodimma
Meanwhile, Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State has said the fuss about the credentials of Bola Tinubu is needless.
Speaking with reporters after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, yesterday, Uzodimma said the former Lagos governor had run for office in the past and won.
The governor said there is no need for Tinubu to resubmit his credentials to the INEC because he did that when he ran for office.
“For my presidential candidate, the issue of certificates shouldn’t even arise,” he said, adding: “In 1999, he contested elections and became the governor of Lagos, in 2003 he contested election as second-term governor of Lagos.”
He ran and won as a senator in the country. Where record-keeping is efficient, and the INEC server is functional, he doesn’t need to do a fresh submission.
“However, if whatever he is supposed to submit is not handy, it is not late yet. I’m sure before the time he will submit whatever is required of him.”
