Atiku Abubakar
Atiku is
Atiku Abubakar
Atiku is Not a Nigerian, APC Hits Back
THE All Progressive Congress (APC) and the winner of the
February 23, 2019 Presidential Election, has a told the
Presidential Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja that the candidate
of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the poll, Alhaji Atiku
Abubakar, is not a Nigerian and therefore not qualified to have
stood for the election.
The Party claimed that the former Vice President is a
Cameroonian and not a Nigerian citizen and his petition against
President Muhammadu Buhari, its own candidate, should be dismissed
for lacking in merit.
In a reply to the petition of Atiku and the PDP praying for
their declaration as the lawful winner of the presidential poll,
the APC said that the 11.1 million votes recorded in favor of the
two petitioners should be voided and considered a waste by the
Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.
The APC’s reply to the petition, filed by its lead counsel,
Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) faulted the candidacy of Atiku in the election
insisting that as a Cameroonian, he ought not to have taken part in
the presidential poll of Nigeria in the first instance.
The Party averred that Atiku was born on November 25, 1946 in
Jada, Adamawa, in Northern Cameroon and is therefore a citizen of
Cameroon and not a Nigerian by birth.
Going down memory lane, APC claimed that prior to 1919, Cameroon
was being administered by Germany and that following the defeat of
Germany in World War 1, which end d in 1918, Cameroon became part
of a League of Nations mandate territory which consisted of French
Cameroon and British Cameroon in 1919.
APC further argued that in 1961, a plebiscite was held in
British Cameroon to determine whether the people preferred to stay
in Cameroon or align with Nigeria.
According to the party, while Northern Cameroon preferred a
union with Nigeria, the Southern Cameroon chose alignment with the
mother country and that it was as a result of the plebiscite that
Northern Cameroon, which included Adamawa, became a part of
Nigeria.
APC therefore said that contrary to the assertion of Atiku in
his petition, he (Atiku) had no right to be voted for as a
candidate in the election to the office of President of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria held on February 23, 2019.
The party averred that by reason of Atiku not having qualified
to contest the election, all votes purportedly cast for him and the
PDP in the February 23 election are wasted votes.
Besides the issue of the origin of Atiku Abubakar, the APC
asserted that most of the claims contained in Atiku’s petition have
become statute barred and that the Tribunal is not the appropriate
forum to entertain same.
Specially, the APC said that the issue of educational
qualification of the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, raised by
Atiku cannot be treated by the Tribunal because the period for
claims and objections on such issues has expired and that the
petitioners failed and neglected to use the appropriate period to
challenge the validity of the educational qualification of Buhari
as contained in the form CF001, submitted to the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the General Election.
According to the APC, since the petitioners have waived their
right to challenge the propriety of information contained in the
form CF001 of President Buhari, their petition no longer disclose
any reasonable cause of action.
APC also faulted the allegations of non-compliance with relevant
laws made by Atiku and PDP, adding that their failure to make
specific references to the compliance issue has fatal effect on the
petition and therefore the petition did not have enough material to
justify the ground of any relief sought.
Atiku had in his petition with reference number:
CA/PEPC/002/2019 faulted the conduct of the February 23
Presidential Election on ground of non-compliance with relevance
electoral laws and other malpractices such as intimidation of
voters, unlawful arrest of his sympathizers and the harassment by
soldiers and other law enforcement of those wishing to vote for
him.
The former Vice President and PDP claimed to have scored the
majority of the lawful votes in the election and prayed the
tribunal to declare them as winners of the election.
In the alternative, the PDP candidate prayed for an order for
the cancellation of the election and another order by the tribunal
directing the INEC to conduct a fresh one that will conform with
relevant laws.
But the APC in the reply argued that failure of Atiku to join
the Nigerian Army, Police and other security agencies who were
alleged to have performed the harassment and intimidation as
defendants in the petition to establish his claim is fatal to the
petition.
They urged the court to strike out the claims.
The party therefore prayed the tribunal to uphold the victory of
its candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, who polled 15,191,347 to emerge
winner and his subsequent declaration as president-elect by INEC
while also urging that the petition against the victory should be
dismissed for having no cause of action.
Meanwhile, no date has been fixed for hearing of the
petition.
By PRNigeria