Just like the leader of the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu said, the All Progressive Congress (APC) has told the presidential election tribunal that Atiku Abubakar, the 2019 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is not a Nigerian.
The APC made the claim, which Mr Kanu made public prior to this year’s general election, while responding to the petition of Mr Abubakar and his party wherein they challenged the election that produced President Muhammadu Buhari as the winner.
The IPOB leader had claimed in one of his broadcast earlier in the year that the PDP candidate is not a Nigerian, he said the former vice president is from Cameroon.
Mr Buhari in winning the election with about 4 million votes has actualized his second term ambition expected to begin in May.
While responding to the petition by the opposition parties, the APC stated that by mere hailing from Cameroon, Atiku as he is popularly known is not qualified to have contested the election.
The ruling party asked the tribunal to dismiss the petition for lack of merit arguing that the over 11 million votes recorded in favour of Atiku and the PDP should be voided and considered a waste by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.
The response of the party filed by its lead counsel, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) noted that the former vice president 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.
The 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 in 1918, Cameroon became part of a League of Nations mandate territory which consisted of French Cameroon and British Cameroon in 1919.
It 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, 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.
It therefore, said that contrary to the assertion of Atiku in his petition, he (Abubakar) 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.
