Tribunal Dismisses Atiku’s Claim Of Guinean Citizenship, Drug Case Against Tinubu

The Presidential Election Petitions Court has dismissed the petition of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, that President Bola Tinubu has dual citizenship and a drug conviction against him.

Speaking on Wednesday regarding the petition bordering on Tinubu’s non-qualification to contest the February 25 presidential election, Justice Moses Ugo held that the grounds were new issues.

He upheld the objections of the APC and Tinubu that the Atiku and PDP could not smuggle new issues not pleaded in their petition on the grounds of non-qualification.

Recall that Atiku had in his reply to Tinubu’s challenge submitted that he was constitutionally disabled from contesting for the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria because he forfeited the sum of $460,000 in a compromise agreement for narcotics-related crime (proceeds of crime) in the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division.

The PDP candidate also claimed that Tinubu failed to disclose in his form EC9 that he holds dual citizenship of Nigeria and Guinea, having voluntarily acquired the citizenship of the Republic of Guinea.