Presidential election tribunal admits Atiku’s 48 Video CDs as exhibits

The Presidential Election Tribunal on Monday admitted 48 compact video discs in evidence from the PDP and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the suit challenging President Muhammadu Buhari’s victor.

The tribunal also ordered viewing of the discs in open court.

Atiku’s counsel, Chris Uche SAN, had announced his plan to tender the video discs and play some of them through one of its witnesses Segun Showunmi, counsel to INEC, Yunus Usman SAN, countered the decision and vehemently objected to the request.

Usman said that INEC is not in support and will not support any bid by Atiku and PDP to play the video recording for the tribunal to see and to admit same.

He insisted that the video CDs were not front loaded by the petitioners and that INEC which conducted the election has been ambushed, adding that only documents front loaded will be allowed to be admitted.

Buhari and APC through their respective counsels associated themselves with INEC that the video recording must not be played or admitted so as not to allow the petitioners to amend their petition.

They cited several legal authorities to justify their position on why the video recording should not be played and admitted.

However, Atiku’s lawyer, who had earlier led three other witnesses in their evidence in chief, drew the attention of the tribunal to the pre-hearing report where they all consented that objections to documents admission can only be made at the final address stage.

Uche cited Supreme Court decisions for consideration of the tribunal to the effect that both front loaded and listed documents including video CDs can be admitted and played in the courtroom.

Atiku’s lawyer specifically drew the attention of the tribunal to page 143 of the petition where several items including video and audio recording relating to the February 23 poll were pleaded by the two petitioners to establish their allegations against Buhari’s election.

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