By EZEKIEL OBI, Abuja –
Despite the allegation of certificate forgery leveled against President Bola Tinubu, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo has expressed confidence that the Supreme Court’s ruling would be in favour of the president.
Recalled that the Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar had sought the leave of the Supreme Court to bring in fresh additional evidence to prove that President Tinubu submitted a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in aid of his qualification for the presidential election.
The documents Atiku sought to tender are Tinubu’s academic records, which were handed over to him by Chicago State University (CSU) on Monday, October 2, 2023.
In his reactions, Mr. Keyamo, in a lengthy tweet he posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), described the president as clean and white as snow.
According to him, the noise about the so-called forgery is useless until the “vendor” the President used in getting the certificate denies its authenticity.
He tweeted;
“When some comments or perception of otherwise plain and simple issues are so moronic, mischievous or downright odious, they really do not deserve a response because you’d be dignifying idiocy. But let me drop this here for posterity: I have been a defence and prosecution lawyer at the highest level in criminal trials for more than 30 years.
“YOU CANNOT ALLEGE OR PROVE FORGERY EXCEPT THE PURPORTED MAKER OF THE DOCUMENT DENIES ITS AUTHENTICITY OR THERE IS UNCONTRADICTED EVIDENCE OF A FORENSIC REPORT THAT CATEGORICALLY SAYS THE DOCUMENT WAS DELIBERATELY ALTERED OR CONCOCTED BY THE PERSON WHO UTTERED (in a legal sense) OR ISSUED IT.
“Applying this principle to the case of Atiku Abubakar V Chicago State University, so long as the University openly said THEY DO NOT ISSUE REPLACEMENT CERTIFICATES, BUT THAT VENDORS DO SO ON THEIR BEHALF, all these noise about so-called forgery are useless until THE PARTICULAR VENDOR THAT ISSUED the replacement certificate to @officialABAT denies its authenticity. And it is the duty of the accuser to fish out the said vendor and get that evidence. It is not the other way round. He who alleges must prove.
“This is the simple principle I laid down in 2019 during our defence of President Buhari that has been so mischievously celebrated as if they have hit the bull’s eye.
“Unfortunately for them, @officialABAT is as clean and white as snow on this issue and we are again waiting for them at the Supreme Court.
“As for ATIKU Abubakar (the famed SPV king and the one who disgraced Nigeria internationally with the money-laundering case involving Congressman William Jefferson), we acknowledge the valedictory speech he delivered a few days ago signifying his retirement from politics and we wish him godspeed in that retirement.”
DISCLAIMER
The OPINION / COLUMN is authored by independent contributors to the National Accord Newspaper. While contributors adhere to our editorial guidelines, they are not employed by the National Accord Newspaper. The perspectives and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not represent the views of the National Accord Newspaper or its staff.
Leave a Reply