Tribunal Lacks Jurisdiction To Enforce US Court Order of $460,000 Forfeiture Against Me – Tinubu

Nigeria’s President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu told Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) it lacked necessary jurisdiction to enforce a purported decision of a United States District court that ordered the forfeiture of the sum of $460,000 in some US bank accounts linked to him in 1993.

VerseNews Nigeria reports that Tinubu stated this on Thursday April 13 in his response to the petition filed by the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, against his victory at the February 25 presidential election.

The ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) alongside the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in a call for the dismissal of the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, challenging Tinubu’s election victory argued that the US court order was never registered in any Nigerian court.

The party, in a Preliminary Objection to the petition, also claimed that the tribunal had no jurisdiction to adjudicate on the petition on the grounds that it lacked necessary facts or particulars as required by law.

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This Online News Media report that Obi and LP had in their petition insisted that Tinubu was not qualified to contest the presidential election, owing to the forfeiture of the said funds in accounts linked to him and as such be disqualified and all votes accrued to him in the election be declared as wasted votes.

Responding to the petition, team of lawyers led by Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN on his behalf Tinubu and the Vice President-elect argued that the decision of the US District Court could not be enforced since it was neither registered nor domesticated in any court in Nigeria.

“This honourable court lacks the jurisdiction to enforce the purported decision of the US district court as sought and alleged under by the petition, the said decision having not been registered in any trial court or domesticated in any court in Nigeria,” Tinubu said.