Former Nigerian Vice President and Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has filed a fresh process before the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) in Abuja, challenging the citizenship and constitutional qualifications of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu.
Atiku accused Tinubu of failing to disclose all facts of his constitutional qualifications in his Form EC9 submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and holding dual citizenship of Nigeria and Guinea, contrary to the provisions of the law.
Atiku’s lead counsel, Mr Chris Uche, SAN, argued that Tinubu was constitutionally disabled from contesting for the office of president, and his election as president-elect was unlawful and invalid.
Tinubu, in response, denied all allegations leveled against him and insisted that he met all the constitutional requirements to contest and win the presidential election.
Atiku, however, maintained that Tinubu failed part of the constitutional requirements, having failed to secure 25 per cent of the votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, as constitutionally required.
Atiku also alleged that Tinubu was unfit to lead Nigeria, having been indicted for drug-related offences in the United States and made to forfeit a sum of $460,000 as a compromise agreement. He argued that Tinubu’s failure to disclose his dual nationality to INEC further proved his unfitness to lead the country, News About Nigeria reports.
Atiku insisted that his identity, comprising age, state of origin and educational qualifications, had never been in dispute, and therefore, his comparison with Tinubu, who he described as a giant in forfeiture, drug-related offences, and failure to disclose dual nationality to INEC, was totally unfounded.
The case is now before the PEPC in Abuja, and it remains to be seen how the court will rule on this fresh process filed by Atiku. However, this latest controversy has added another dimension to the already tense political atmosphere in Nigeria.
