The main opposition Peoples Democratic Party on Monday accused the Tinubu Presidential Legal Team of self-incrimination, over the inscription of the TPLT header on the Certified True Copies of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal judgment.
The PDP, in a press statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, said the TPLT’s admission 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, and manipulation by the All Progressives Congress, in the recently delivered PEPT judgement.
It would be recalled that the PEPT had on last week Wednesday, affirmed President Bola Tinubu’s victory at the February 25 Presidential election, after the petitions of Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, and that of Peter Obi of the Labour Party, seeking to nullify Tinubu ”ss sss victory as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission, were dismissed by the court.
Meanwhile, there were a lot of allegations before the PEPT judgement that the APC was trying to influence the judgement of the tribunal by writing the statement for the five-man Pannel of justices.
However, after the judgement at the PEPT on Wednesday, there was a public outcry from the opposition parties, that the TPLT, influenced the judgement.
The claim has since been dispelled by the President’s legal team, claiming that it only put the watermark on its certified true copy.
Reacting to the claim, the PDP said the rush by the TPLT to admit 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 party further claimed that examination and expert analysis show that the documents are not scanned and that the TPLT inscriptions are not watermarks, claiming it is a computer default header which usually originates from an author of a document.
The party however demanded that the TPLT explain how what is a default header on its computer system should be accepted as a watermark.
It further demanded that the TPLT should also disclose to Nigerians what specific time on Friday, September 8, 2023, they received their CTC; what time specifically was the ‘watermark’ imprinted on the document, the identity of the electronic device with which the ‘watermark’ was made as well as the PDF used in the said watermarking process for an independent analysis of the claim.
The full statement reads: “September 11, 2023
“Press Statement
“Tinubu Legal Team’s Watermark Claim on PEPC Judgment is Self-Indicting – @OfficialPDPNig
…Tasks @OfficialAPCNg to Come Clean
“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 and indeed the majority of Nigerians are not satisfied with the claims by the Tinubu Legal Team. This is especially true as further examination and expert analysis show that the documents are not scanned and that the TPLT inscriptions are not watermarks but computer default header which usually originates from the author of a document.
“The PDP demands that the Tinubu Legal Team should explain how what is a default header on its computer system should be accepted as a watermark.
“The Tinubu Legal Team should also disclose to Nigerians what specific time on Friday, September 8, 2023, they received their CTC; what time specifically was the ‘watermark’ imprinted of the document, the identity of the electronic device with which the ‘watermark’ was made as well as the PDF used in the said watermarking process for an independent analysis.
“The PDP demands that the All Progressives Congress (APC) should come clean on the issue, especially given its notoriety for manipulations.
“Signed:
Hon. Debo Ologunagba
National Publicity Secretary.”
