Ubani Shatters Atiku’s Hopes, Says Supreme Court Rarely Admits Fresh Evidence Revealing What Will Happen

Ubani Shatters Atiku’s Hopes, Says Supreme Court Rarely Admits Fresh Evidence Revealing What Will Happen

Monday Ubani, a former Chairman of the Section of Public Interest and Development Law (SPIDEL) within the Nigerian Bar Association, has expressed doubt about the Supreme Court’s willingness to accept new evidence in the appeal of the presidential election petition tribunal’s judgment.

This comes in response to a case initiated in the United States by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar. Atiku has requested the release of President Bola Tinubu’s certificate from the Chicago State University, suspecting that the certificate submitted by the President to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) might not be genuine.

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“Looking at the facts surrounding it, the issue of admissibility of fresh evidence by the appellate court is very rare, especially if that evidence was available to you while you were initiating the process.

“The Supreme Court will never, even the Court of Appeal will not admit fresh evidence because their job is to review the decision of the court below and not to now evaluate any evidence. They don’t take any evidence but there are special circumstances under which fresh evidence can be admitted by the appellate court and that ground is maybe by the time you file the case that evidence was not available,” Ubani said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Thursday.

President Tinubu initially opposed Atiku’s request for his academic records. However, the US court eventually ruled in favor of Atiku, instructing CSU to release the President’s academic records to him. Atiku stated that he needed them for his appeal in the Supreme Court.

Ubani pointed out that Atiku’s legal team faces a significant challenge in persuading the Supreme Court to admit fresh evidence in the appeal of the election tribunal judgment. This is because the apex court is primarily tasked with reviewing the decision of the lower court. The senior lawyer also noted that Tinubu’s legal team is likely to contest the admissibility of the fresh evidence. Ultimately, the court will exercise its discretionary power to determine whether or not to admit the new evidence in the case.

“The issue of admissibility of fresh evidence is very critical, you must convince, and whoever is bringing it will be opposed by the other party. So, the court now exercises what is called discretionary power in either admitting or not allowing that fresh evidence to come in,” he said.

On September 6, the tribunal upheld Tinubu’s election, stating that the petitioner, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), along with its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, failed to substantiate the allegations presented in their petition, including all other claims.

Justice Haruna Tsammani, heading the five-member panel, declared, “This petition accordingly lacks merit. I affirm the return of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the duly elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The parties are to bear their cost.”

Additionally, the court removed 37 exhibits presented by the witnesses from the court’s official records.

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