PDP Does Not Want The Court To Punish Tinubu – Onoja

A Legal practitioner and head of the New Media Department of the dissolved Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council, Ilemona Onoja, has said that the PDP is not interested in prosecuting President Bola Tinubu.

He, however, stated the party wants the court to take the president’s alleged act of forgery into cognisance.

Onoja stated this during an interview with Arise News on Friday.

He emphasised that the PDP does not want Tinubu to be tried criminally, adding that it is purely a civil matter.

He said, “The allegations here are not of a criminal nature. The position of the constitution in section 137 Sub section 1j is with respect to the fact of forgery simplicita. It doesn’t make any provisions with respect to a trial, it doesn’t make any provisions with respect to convictions, it doesn’t make any provisions with respect to punitive measures or a punitive sentence in any way whatsoever.

“The supreme court has held as far back as in 2017 that the mere establishment of forgery simplicita on the face of it is sufficient enough to issue an order disqualifying the candidate from the election, and that is the simple position of the people’s democratic party and its Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

“While there are other issues where there is sufficient reason for discussion and are worthy of mention, when it comes down to the formulation of a legal issue, for the purposes of filing an appeal to the supreme court, this is a civil matter, it is not criminal in nature, there is no criminal allegation.”

“We’re not asking that he be tried criminally, we’re not asking that he be punished. We’re asking that the supreme court should take cognisance of the fact of forgery,” he said.