The presidential election petition tribunal on Wednesday
dismissed the suit by Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP), seeking to disqualify President Bola Tinubu on the ground of dual
citizenship.
The tribunal ruled that the information in Atiku’s reply was
an attempt to smuggle in fresh evidence to make up for the details his legal
team failed to provide while filing the petition.
The court also held that Atiku’s claim of non-qualification
stated in the main petition was vague.
“It was in their response to the respondents’ reply that
they tried to smuggle in the issue of double citizenship,” the panel said.
Abubakar, Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), and the Allied
Peoples Movement (APM) have approached the tribunal to challenge Tinubu’s victory in the presidential
election.
The former vice-president had told the tribunal that Tinubu
ought not to have contested the election owing to his dual citizenship of
Nigeria and Guinea.
Atiku made the claim in his response to Tinubu’s preliminary
objection filed before the presidential election petition court in Abuja.
Shortly after Tinubu was declared the president-elect, there
were reports that he allegedly obtained citizenship of Guinea.
The allegation generated varied reactions on social media,
with many arguing that having dual citizenship bars Tinubu from contesting
elections in the country.
Tinubu’s relationship with Alpha Conde, the former president
of Guinea, has also come under scrutiny.
Ousmane Yara, a Guinean ambassador to the African Union (AU)
for Agenda 2063, had said Tinubu was recognised by Conde as a special envoy.
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