On Monday the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the admission by President Bola Tinubu’s legal team that it inscribed “Tinubu Presidential Legal Team” (TPLT) on the Certified True Copies (CTC) of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) judgement currently in circulation as ‘self indicting’.
In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, PDP described the explanation as a desperate attempt to dispel public scrutiny and ward off the possibility of more revelations regarding the issue.
The PDP added that the ‘knee-jerk’ admission by Tinubu’s legal team that it “scanned and watermarked” its copy of the judgement lends credence to widespread public insinuation of pre-determined manipulation of the tribunal’s verdict by the All Progressives Congress, APC.
It was reported that the President Election Petitions Tribunal, PEPT, recently released a copy of its judgement to the presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Labour Party, LP, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, respectively.
The development followed the tribunal’s judgement affirming the election of President Bola Tinubu.
The judgement was on the petitions brought by Atiku and Obi, challenging the declaration of Tinubu as the winner of the February 25 presidential election.
However, images circulating online show the inscription “Tinubu Presidential Legal Team” (TPLT) on the Certified True Copies (CTC) of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) judgement.
While Tinubu’s legal team clarified that the inscription was a ‘watermark’ it made on its own copies of the court judgment, PDP is saying otherwise.
According to the PDP, majority of Nigerians were not satisfied with the claims by the Tinubu’s legal team.
The opposition party is insisting that further examination and expert analysis showed that the documents were not scanned and that the TPLT inscriptions were not watermarks but computer default header.
The PDP challenged Tinubu’s legal team to should explain how “what is obviously”a default header on its computer system should be accepted as a watermark.
“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has meticulously examined the scandalous inscription of the Header of Tinubu Presidential Legal Team (TPLT) on the Certified True Copies (CTC) of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) judgement currently in circulation.
“The knee-jerk admission by the Tinubu Legal Team that it “scanned and watermarked” its copy of the judgment with the inscription, “Tinubu Presidential Legal Team ‘TPLT’ is self-indicting and lends credence to widespread public insinuation of pre-determined manipulation by the APC.
“The rush by the TPLT in admitting that it imprinted on the CTC of the judgment smacks of a desperate attempt to dispel public scrutiny and ward off the possibility of more revelations regarding the issue.
“The PDP demands that the Tinubu Legal Team should explains how what obviously is a default header on its computer system should be accepted as a watermark,” parts of the statement read.
