The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, says the APC Presidential candidate in the February 25 polls, Bola Tinubu, is constitutionally unqualified to contest the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Atiku Abubakar said this through his counsel, Chris Uche, in response to Tinubu’s and APC’s reply to his petition challenging the process and the outcome of the February 25 presidential election.
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Atiku Abubakar’s counsel, Chris Uche, cited Tinubu’s dual citizenship and his alleged indictment in drug related offences in the United States of America for which he was made to forfeit the sum of $460,000 as a compromise agreement.
The PDP presidential candidate’s counsel also noted that his client’s identity, age, State of Origin and educational qualifications have never been in dispute like those of Tinubu.
The former Vice President also said his request for the annulment of the declaration of Tinubu as President-elect, is based on the fact that Bola Tinubu and APC never won majority of the lawful votes cast in the February 25 presidential election and failed part of the constitutional requirements having failed to secure 25% of the votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, as constitutionally required.
The former Vice President claimed that his petition did not in any way constitute a gross abuse of any court process and explained that the originating summons of February 28, 2023, filed at the Supreme Court by Adamawa, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta , Edo, and Sokoto states have since been discontinued.
Atiku further said that parties in the suit of the six PDP controlled states are not the same in his own petition and therefore prayed the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal to discountenance the objections and the averments raised against the petition by Tinubu and grant him all the reliefs sought in the petition.
Atiku said Tinubu deliberately chose not to answer points of substance in the petition and opted for extraneous facts, contradictory, evasive, speculative and vague assertions.
Editor: Paul Akhagbemhe
