lawyer sues EFCC over refusal to release forensic result of Ganduje bribe-taking videos

A human rights lawyer, Audu Bulama-Bukarti, has approached a
federal high court seeking to compel the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission, EFCC, to release results of the forensic
analysis the commission carried out on the video clips showing
Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano state allegedly receiving a
bribe.

On February 11, Mr Bulama-Bukarti had written to the acting
chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, demanding the certified true
copies of the result of a forensic analysis carried out by the
commission within and outside the country.

In a letter titled: “Application for Certified True Copy of
Result of Forensic Investigation of Video Clips Allegedly Showing
Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State Receiving Bribe” and
addressed to Mr Magu, the lawyer gave the commission seven-day
ultimatum to make the copies available to him or face legal
action.

“I humbly write under Section 1 of the Freedom of Information
Act, 2011 to request for a certified true copy of the Result of the
Forensic Analysis you conducted into the Video clips released by
Daily Nigerian online newspapers between 14th and 15th October 2018
allegedly showing Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje receiving
bribe.

“As you may recall, you informed me publicly on the 23rd of
November 2018 at Queen Mary University of London that you were in
London to, among other things, perform forensic analysis of the
said videos.

“It is against the foregoing that I make this application.

“I am happy to pay such processing fees as you may charge for
the preparation of the said document.

“Finally, may I remind you that by and under Section 4 of the
Freedom of Information Act, you have 7 days within which to avail
me of this information, failing which I shall not hesitate to
proceed under the relevant provisions of the Act,” Mr Bukarti
wrote.

As the said ultimatum elapsed, Mr Bulama-Bukarti, in a suit
filed on March 4 before the Federal High Court sitting in Kano,
wanted the court to, among others, “compel the Respondent to,
within 7 days of the judgement herein, furnish the Applicant with a
Certified True Copy of the result of its forensic analysis into the
video clips allegedly showing Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of
Kano State receiving bribe as requested by Applicant via his letter
dated 11 February 2019 and as provided for by and under section 2
(4) of the Freedom of Information Act 2011.”

Buhari’s Election: Atiku Goes to Appeal Court, Applies
to Inspect INEC Register

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
in the February 23, presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar,
and his party formally kick-started their petition challenging the
conduct and outcome of the election which produced President
Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressive Congress (APC) for a second
term of four years.

Atiku kick-started the petition with an ex-parte motion filed at
the Court of Appeal in Abuja, asking for various orders of the
court to allow him access all documents used by the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the conduct of the
pool.

The ex-parte motion is praying for an order compelling INEC to
allow them Inspect the register and other vital documents used in
the conduct of the election unhindered.

In the ex-parte motion dated March 4 and filed March 5, Atiku
and the PDP applied that the Appellate Court serving as the
Presidential Election Petition Tribunal to compel the electoral
body to allow their agents to scan and make photocopies of vital
documents used in the last presidential election for the purpose of
maintaining their petition against the election.

The ex-parte application filed by a legal luminary, Chief Chris
Uche SAN, has INEC, President Muhamadu Buhari and the All
Progressives Congress (APC) as respondents.

Specifically, the ex-parte motion indicated that the order
requested against INEC is for the purpose of filing and maintaining
election petition before the tribunal.

The ex-parte motion according to our findings is supported with
a 12 paragraph affidavit deposed to by one Colonel Austin Akobundu
(Rtd.), a Director of Contact and Mobilization in the Atiku
Abubakar Presidential Campaign Council.

Meanwhile, no date has yet been fixed for hearing of the
motion.

When our Correspondent visited the Court of Appeal, Abuja
Division serving as the presidential election petition tribunal, a
functional registry and Secretariat have been opened for the
purpose of receiving Petitions from aggrieved presidential
candidates against the last presidential election.

Atiku and PDP who scored over 11m votes to come second in the
February 23 presidential election as against the over 15m votes
declared by INEC for Buhari and APC have indicated their desire to
challenge the conduct and outcome of the election at the tribunal
on the grounds that the poll was heavily manipulated and rigged for
the declared winners.

Specifically, the grouse of Atiku and PDP was that the results
collated by them from polling units across the country were quite
different from those recorded for the declared winners by INEC.

Meanwhile, the President Muhammadu Buhari campaign council has
said that it is not opposed to the decision of the PDP candidate in
the last presidential poll Alhaji Atiku Abubakar from seeking
redress in the law court.

A Press statement by the spokesperson for the council Mr. Festus
Keyamo SAN read in part; “Our attention has been drawn to some news
item and posts on social media reporting that we wrote a letter to
some international bodies to prevail on Alhaji Atiku Abubakar not
to proceed to court to challenge the result of the 2019
Presidential Election.

“Our investigation reveals that a letter to that effect was
purportedly written by a certain ‘Buhari Campaign
Organisation’.

“This is the second time we will be informing the public that
the said ‘Buhari Campaign Organisation’ does not act at the behest
of the APC Presidential Campaign Council nor does it represent the
Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organisation in any way.

“As a result, whatever it has released does not represent the
position of the APC presidential campaign council or President
Muhammadu Buhari.

“Our official position is that we believe that Alhaji Atiku
Abubakar has a constitutional right to seek redress in court and we
do not seek in any way to curtail that right.

“In fact, it is the resort to court that is the only democratic
way to ventilate his perceived grievance and any attempt to
restrict or discourage the exercise of such right would be an
invitation to anarchy.

“In addition, we are very anxious to meet Alhaji Atiku Abubakar
in court in order to show the world in a conclusive manner the free
and fair nature of the comprehensive defeat of Atiku at the polls.
An election is not termed ‘rigged’ only by the mere claim of it by
the loser.

That is what Atiku and the PDP want to ram down our throats.
Unfortunately for them, international, continental and sub-regional
observers (who can be seen as neutral by all standards) ALL
declared the election to be free, fair and credible. No
ego-massaging narrative can change that.

“We therefore totally disassociate ourselves from the letter
purportedly written by one of, perhaps, many support groups of
President Muhammadu Buhari. They may have a right to their opinion,
but it does not represent our official position.

By PRNigeria