President Umaru Yar�Adua has reiterated that Atiku Abubakar, Presidential candidate of the Action Congress (AC), cannot quash his victory through the interrogatories he served on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Maurice Iwu.
Yar�Adua, in his reply on points of law through his counsel, Wole Olanipekun (to be presented in court today), said Atiku is either confused or acting under a mis-apprehension of the law.
“With the greatest respect to the petitioners� counsel, their submissions on the interrogatories is a complete departure from the simple question put in their question number 1, to wit, whether a fresh contract for the printing of ballot papers for the Presidential election was awarded less than five days to the election.
“A question which was followed by question number 2 as to whether the said contract was awarded to a company in South Africa, none of the questions relates to where ballot papers were printed. There is a world of difference between mere award of contracts and where ballot papers were printed.
“With respect again, they have created a confusing situation and unfairly shifted blame to (Iwu) who has merely answered the simple questions put to him. Put bluntly, nothing in the neighborhood of perjury has been committed by (Iwu).
“The petitioners, through their counsel, have besieged (the) court with three separate addresses in respect of the simple matter of their interrogatories answered by (Iwu) and have gone further as if the answers to the interrogatories would, in law, support their case or change the entire template of the case put forth by them before the court.
“With the greatest respect to counsel, they are acting under a wrong interpretation of the law and or a misapprehension of it, vis-a-vis the simple issue of interrogatories.
“From the foregoing, it is submitted that the petitioners came to a very faulty conclusion by labeling (Iwu) a liar who should be committed for perjury, simply because his answers to their interrogatories are not satisfactory to them. The petitioners have not been able to counter or fault the submission that the evidence extracted from the interrogatories form part of their case.
“By extension, (Iwu), for the purpose of the interrogatories, is their witness who has given evidence on oath. Assuming he has been called as a witness to give viva voce evidence by the petitioners, they cannot put leading questions to him, neither can they cross-examine him.
“The best they can do, if his evidence is not satisfactory to them, is to turn him to a hostile witness, but then certain procedures have to be followed. See Section 207 of the Evidence Act.”
Similarly, Iwu has asked Atiku to leave him alone.
A statement issued on Sunday by his Chief Press Secretary, Andy Ezeani, said the consistency of Atiku�s “malicious attacks” against Iwu should be condemned by the public, as the INEC has noted “the fixation” of Atiku on Iwu in the wake of the recent elections, and worries at the desperation which “gives vent to his unrestrained attacks on a patriotic public servant for no other reason than that he refused to be used in unconscionable quest for power.
“It is obvious that Atiku and his lieutenants have twisted the process of seeking justice to mean sinister attacks on the person of (Iwu). The recent series of personalised assaults on (him) not only reflect a new height of desperation, but is clearly another deliberate attempt by Atiku to mislead Nigerians and incite them against the person of (Iwu) Such machinations will continue to fail.
“We are compelled at this juncture to make this intervention, to set the records straight and to alert Nigerians of the dangers of the falsehood they are being fed with. While we are not bothered by heavily funded media attacks on (Iwu), the matter assumes a worrisome dimension when Atiku goes to the extent of calling (him) a liar. The development speaks of a slide to a dangerous level of frustration and desperation.
“We exhort Atiku to restrain himself and wait for the ruling of the Presidential Election Tribunal on his petitions. Power comes from God and the people are the means through which God ordains leaders in electoral democracies.”