By Oladipo Abiola

The Tinubu Presidential Legal Team (TPLT) has disclosed why the Certified True Copies (CTC) of the judgement by the 2023 Presidential Election Petition Tribunal in circulation on social media have its watermarks.

Naija News recalls there had been insinuations that the tribunal ruling was compromised in favour of President Bola Tinubu due to the Tinubu Presidential Legal Team watermarks found on the copies in circulation on social media.

However, the coordinator of the Tinubu Presidential Legal Team, Babatunde Ogala (SAN) in a statement on Saturday has debunked such insinuations.

According to him, the judgment was not compromised, and the watermarks were only applied by the team after they got their own copies of the consolidated judgment from the Court of Appeal.

Ogala explained further that the lawyers for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were present at the registry when they picked up the clean copies of the tribunal ruling, adding that the PDP lawyers were even the first to pick copies of the judgement from the court registry.

The lawyer said those insinuating there was a compromise are only trying to be mischievous as it was only after collecting the clean copies that they went ahead to watermark them with the Tinubu Presidential Legal Team seal.

According to him, “Following some mischievous insinuations being made in certain quarters regarding the innocuous water-mark of copies of the consolidated judgment of the Court of Appeal with the inscription -“Tinubu Presidential Legal Team ‘TPLT’”, it is has become necessary to offer this clarification.

“After the delivery of judgment in the 3 (Three) election petitions by the Court of Appeal on September 6, 2023, the Court directed its registry to make physical copies of same available on September 7, 2023.

“Accordingly, the Tinubu Presidential Legal Team applied for a certified true copy of the said judgment and paid the prescribed fee.

“In fact, the representative of the PDP collected the first copy that was made available by the registry.

“On collecting our own copy, we immediately scanned and water-marked with the inscription – “Tinubu Presidential Legal Team ‘TPLT’” before circulating the scanned soft copies to the lawyers in our team.

“The certified true copies issued to us and other parties in the petitions by the registry do not contain the said inscription and any insinuation to the contrary is untrue.

“Counsel to the petitioners will also appreciate the fact that the insinuations being circulated in some quarters are untrue, unkind, unfair, and unfortunate, as they have the same certified copies of the judgment as we have.”