AFRICA ( Commonwealth Union) _ Bola Tinubu, the incoming president of Nigeria and Guinea, has dual citizenship, according to Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) presidential candidate. The PDP presidential contender revealed it in a new case he filed before the Abuja-based Presidential Election Petition Court, or PEPC.
Moreover, Atiku charged Tinubu with breaking the law by failing to disclose information about his constitutional credentials in his Form EC9 submission to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Atiku claimed that his identity, including his age, place of origin, and academic credentials, had never been a subject of contention in the response submitted by his primary attorney, Mr. Chris Uche, SAN. He reiterated that Tinubu was ineligible to run for president under the constitution.
The PDP candidate for president claimed that Tinubu was unqualified to lead Nigeria because he had been charged with drug-related crimes in the United States and ordered to forfeit $460,000 as part of a compromise arrangement. The former vice president responded to Tinubu’s statement that Atiku was a repeat loser of elections by saying that Tinubu was a giant in forfeiture, drug-related offences, and refusal to disclose dual nationality to INEC. He stated that the comparison of the second respondent (Tinubu) with the first petitioner (Atiku), who had attained the eminent position of Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for eight years, is totally unfounded.
Atiku further highlighted that the reason he is contesting Tinubu’s election as president-elect is that he and the APC did not receive a majority of the valid votes cast in the presidential election on February 25. He said that Tinubu fell short of some constitutional requirements since he was unable to win the requisite 25% of the votes cast in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
He further stated that Tinubu’s declaration as the victor of the 2023 presidential election was unjustified, illegal, and illegitimate since he failed to comply with constitutional criteria. However, Atiku states that Tinubu opted for irrelevant facts, contradicting, evasive, speculative, and ambiguous remarks rather than directly responding to the petition’s substantive questions.
