Tinubu burdened by drug, identity scandals, Atiku tells court

Atiku Abubakar, the opposition presidential candidate People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 25 election, Nigeria’s president-elect, Bola Tinubu, says it has been hampered by drug and identity scandals.

Atiku and his party are challenging Mr. Tinubu’s victory at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja. The drug allegation is part of the reasons why Atiku anchored his petition.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Mr. Tinubu the winner of the election with 8,794,726 votes to defeat his closest challenger, Atiku who got 6,984,520 votes.

But Atiku accused INEC and Mr. Tinubu of fraud and failure to comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act and the constitution during the February 25 election.

Mr. Tinubu in his response to Atiku’s petition described the former Nigerian Vice President as a “serial loser”.

The president-elect detailed Atiku’s several but unsuccessful presidential bids since 1993 before serving as President Olusegun Obasanjo’s deputy from 1999 to 2007.

“Tinubu a giant in confiscations, drug-related crimes”

Responding to Mr. Tinubu’s response to his request, Atiku noted that unlike Mr. Tinubu, he was able to contest for the presidency without controversy. Atiku’s response is a point of law, which closes further exchanges on the merits of his petition before the court begins hearing.

The former Vice President boasted that the records of his identity and educational qualifications have remained untainted.

Atiku argued that Mr. Tinubu is constitutionally barred from contesting for the presidency due to his conviction for drug-related offenses in the United States of America.

In the filings, Atiku’s lawyer, Chris Uche, the Solicitor General of Nigeria (SAN), said Mr. Tinubu forfeited the sum of $460,000 as a compromise settlement.

Tinubu’s alleged dual citizenship

Responding further, Atiku blamed Mr. Tinubu’s victory on his “dual citizenship of Nigeria and Guinea, having voluntarily acquired citizenship of the Republic of Guinea”.

He also accused the PDP presidential aspirant of failing to disclose facts about his constitutional qualifications in the EC9 form submitted to INEC in violation of the law.

Atiku admitted that Mr. Tinubu may be a “Titan and a Master” but “The President-elect is certainly not a titan and a master at the state level, in controversies expressed through age, state of origin, identity, certificates, among others. university and obtained from institutes”.

“The comparison of the second respondent (Mr. Tinubu) with the first applicant (Atiku) who achieved the distinguished position of Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for eight years is totally baseless.”

Atiku is asking the court to declare him president or nullify the polls because Mr. Tinubu did not get the majority of legal votes cast in the presidential election.

It also alleged that Mr. Tinubu did not secure 25 percent of the legal votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja as required by law.

Tinubu on dodgy matters

The petitioner further accused Mr. Tinubu of willfully refusing to respond to the serious issues raised in the petition.

Atiku said Mr Tinubu’s response to the petition has been “contradictory, evasive, speculative and vague”.

On the abuse of court process raised by Mr. Tinubu against the petitioners, Atiku argued that his case was properly filed.

He noted that the PDP-controlled states withdrew the case filed in the Supreme Court.

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In a suit filed on February 28, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Taraba and Sokoto states sued the federal government at the Supreme Court over the declaration of INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, Mr. Tinubu as president-elect.