The Labour Party (LP) has asked the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) why the header on the Certified True Copies (CTC) of its verdict was Tinubu Presidential Legal Team (TPLT).
There have been allegations that the tribunal judgement was tainted in favor of President Bola Tinubu due to the Tinubu Presidential Legal Team watermarks discovered on copies circulated on social media.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the coordinator of Tinubu‘s Presidential Legal Team, Babatunde Ogala (SAN), refuted such allegations.
The verdict, he claims, was not compromised, and the watermarks were only added by the team after they received their copies of the combined ruling from the Court of Appeal.
Ogala went on to say that the PDP lawyers were present at the registry when they picked up clean copies of the tribunal ruling, and that they were even the first to pick up copies of the judgement from the court registry.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the Labour Party’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiorah Ifoh, urged the PEPC and the ruling APC with informing Nigerians about the scandal and the TPLT’s shameful appearance 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.”
