LP Queries Tribunal Over Controversial CTC Judgement Header Bearing 'Tinubu Presidential Legal Team'

Posted by Thandiubani on Mon 11th Sep, 2023 - tori.ng

Labour Party's enquiry came hours after a member of the TPLT, Babatunde Ogala SAN offered some clarification.

The Labour Party (LP) has slammed the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) over the controversy surrounding the Certified True Copies (CTC) of its judgment that bore the header of the Tinubu Presidential Legal Team (TPLT).

Recall that it was alleged that the tribunal's ruling was compromised in favour of President Bola Tinubu due to the Tinubu Presidential Legal Team watermarks found on the copies in circulation on social media.

However, the coordinator of the Tinubu Presidential Legal Team, Babatunde Ogala (SAN), in a statement on Saturday, debunked such insinuations.

According to him, the judgment was not compromised, and the watermarks were only applied by the team after they got their copies of the consolidated judgment from the Court of Appeal.

Ogala explained further that the lawyers for the PDP were present at the registry when they picked up the clean copies of the tribunal ruling, adding that the PDP lawyers were even the first to pick copies of the judgement from the court registry.

Reacting in a statement on Sunday, the National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Obiorah Ifoh, tasked the PEPC and the ruling APC to tell Nigerians what transpired over the controversy and the embarrassing appearance of the TPLT on the CTC of the judgment.

Ifoh said: “Consequent upon the revelation that CTC of the recent judgment by the PEPC had an imprint, ‘Tinubu Presidential Legal Team’ (TPLT) as its header, Nigerians are curious about such happenstance that has inevitably generated storm and controversy.

“The Labour Party was very disturbed by the delay in releasing the judgment expeditiously, only to be confronted with this befuddlement. The public is equally at pains trying to comprehend what is happening.

“The onus of explaining and dousing the unfolding controversy rests on the PEPC and the TPLT, the imprint owners. Clearly, the header is not a watermark. We note that only some of the petitioners received the same version.

“In a highly contentious case with dire national interest and implications, confirming that the PEPC did not confer any advantage, rights, or privileges to any party is imperative.

“This development must be cleared up quickly to avoid conjectures and the belief that something untoward happened. This cannot be the case of another glitch.”

The party noted that “the unsigned and undated statement issued purportedly by a senior counsel on behalf of the Tinubu Legal Team is misconceived and empty. The senior counsel claimed that the header is a watermark! It is not and can never be.

“Typically, a watermark is a faint imprint or design made on some papers during production and which can be seen when held up to the light. It helps in checking the genuineness of the paper.

“We of the Labour Party place it on record that the counsel who collected the judgment on behalf of our party and our candidate did so long after a representative of Tinubu Legal Team.

“We call on the PEPC and APC to come clean on the CTC imprint and disclose whose imprimatur is inscribed on the entire judgment. Nigerians deserve the right to know and are demanding urgent answers.”