Court Is Not Obligated To Deliver Its Judgement Based On APC's Original Written Address- Barr. Ufeli

Amid the ongoing public uproar that has greeted the contents of the Original Written Address submitted to the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its flag bearer, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, renowned lawyer, and political analyst, Barrister Evans Ufeli has come out to explain that the court is not obligated to deliver its judgment based on the points raised by the ruling party’s legal team in the document.

Recall that on Sunday morning, a report by The PUNCH revealed that on Friday, July 14, Tinubu’s lawyer, Wole Olanipekun (SAN) filed a Original Written Address to the court insisting that the evidences provided by the Labour Party and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) In an attempt to nullify the APC’s victory, are ‘worthless’ and should be dismissed.

While appearing in an interview on Voice Of the People FM on Sunday evening, Barrister Ufeli explained that though it is a normal court procedure for the APC to file an Original Written Address, the court, however, has no obligation to deliver its judgment on the basis of the argument raised in the document.

Going further, Ufeli stated that as sometimes seen in past cases, the panel of judges make up their minds during the trial because they not only see the evidence tendered, but they also hear the testimonies of the witnesses.

He said; “I understand the assertions and submissions of the APC, but that is their case. The Original Written Address is what they want to the court use as a basis for its judgment. But what I am saying is that, every lawyer knows that, sometimes, before you file your Original Address, the court has written its judgement already.

Sometimes, your Original Address does not really make a difference. Because it is the same court that sat throughout the case and saw the evidence adduced, and has already extracted what it needs during the trial proceedings and witness testimonies. So, an Original Address is just a persuasive expression to the court to say that the party has raised enough points to show why judgement should be in its favor. But the court is not under any obligation to use whatever is written in the Original Address stage in writing its judgement.”

SOURCE: YouTube (Forward video to 21:09).

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