As the Presidential Election Petition Court sitting in Abuja awaits the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party to submit their final written addresses within 10 days, the PDP has said that the testimony of the Senate Majority Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele was a validation of its claim that the $460,000 forfeited by President Bola Tinubu was connected to drugs racketeering.
The party said Opeyemi could not defend the figures declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as results of the 2023 presidential election in Kano State because he was not in the state and was also not at the collation centre on the day of the election.
Senator Bamidele had last Wednesday said as the All Progressives Congress (APC) Witness-in-Chief that President Tinubu did not face any criminal charges in a US court.
The lawmaker was the only witness called by the respondents in the hearing of the court in Abuja.
The Senate Majority Leader insisted that a forfeiture order against the president by an American court for $460,000 did not replace criminal charges because it related to a civil problem.
He also claimed that Tinubu was not found guilty and was not given any punishment.
But the PDP in a post on its Whatsapp platform by the Publicity Secretary, yesterday stated that: “The testimony of Opeyemi Bamidele, one of the star witnesses of the APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, further confirms before the Presidential Election Petition Court that Bola Tinubu of the APC forfeited the sum of $460,000, which he earned from trafficking of drugs, narcotics in the United States of America (USA), and did not disclose same to INEC in his nomination forms.
“Though, Bamidele in his defence before the Lord Justices opined that the $460,000 forfeiture was civil and not a criminal act.
“He cannot defend the spurious figures declared by INEC as results of the 2023 presidential election in Kano State because he was not in the state and was not also at the collation centre on the day of the election.
“Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC only made 19.5 per cent in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and didn’t score up to 25 per cent as stipulated by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999 as amended).
“Two presidents before the fraudulent announcement of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as president made 25 per cent in Abuja, and Tinubu is the first to be wrongly declared without getting the stipulated 25 per cent in Abuja,” PDP explained.
PDP’s statement was titled: ‘How Tinubu, APC Validated PDP/Atiku’s Petition at the Presidential Election Petition Court.’
The main opposition party said with the weighty evidence before the court, Nigerians and the world expect the judiciary to redeem itself by doing the needful, and declare its candidate, Atiku Abubakar as the rightful winner of the election.
It added that the judiciary has a lot of duty to ensure justice is served since the future of Nigeria is at stake.
Chuks Okocha in Abuja
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