I Remain A Nigerian By Birth – Atiku Replies APC At Presidential Election Petition Tribunal

BY AMOS DUNI, ABUJA – The 2019 Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar on Sunday faulted the allegation by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), saying that he is not a Nigerian by birth and therefore not qualified to seek to occupy the office of the President.

The APC in response to the petition by Atiku and the PDP said that by virtue of the PDP Presidential candidate not being a Nigerian by Birth, was not qualified to have contested the last presidential election.

But Atiku in a 38page reply to the claim of the APC, declared that he is a Nigerian by birth and was born on November 25, 1946 in Jada, Adamawa State by Nigerian parents, stressing that he is a bona fide citizen of Nigeria by Birth.

In a joint reply with the PDP to a response filed by the APC against their petition before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, Atiku gave his early life history that include his working experience as well as his political career all in Nigeria to support his claim that he is a bon fide Nigerian by birth.

Atiku and the PDP insist that it was late in the day for the APC to query his qualification for the election, having not done so at the pre-election stage.

Atiku and PDP stated further that contrary to the allegations contained in paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the APC’s reply, Atiku is a citizen of Nigeria by birth and accordingly qualified to vote and be voted for and returned in the election to the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, held on Saturday February 23, 2019 going by the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

The reply states further; “The 1st petitioner’s father, Garba Atiku Abdulkadir was a Nigerian by Birth who hailed from Wumo in present-day Sokoto State while the mother, Aisha Kande was also a Nigerian who hailed from Dutse in present-day Jigawa State.The parents of the 1st Petitioner are both Fulani, a community/tribe indigenous to Nigeria.

“The birth of the 1st petitioner in Jada, in present-day Adamawa State of Nigeria was occasioned by the movement of his paternal grandfather called Atiku who was an itinerant trader, from Wumo in present-day Sokoto State to Jada in the company of his friend, Ardo Usman.

“That in Jada, Atiku, the grandfather of the 1st petitioner gave birth to Garba who in tum gave birth to the 1st Petitioner and named him after his own father Atiku.

“The 1st petitioner’s mother, Aisha Kande was the grand-daughter of Inuwa Dutse, who came to Jada as an itinerant trader too from Dutse in present-day Jigawa State.

“All averments concerning Germany, British Cameroons, League of Nations and Plebiscite are false and misleading in relation to the 1st Petitioner and therefore completely irrelevant more so that the 1st Petitioner is a Nigerian by Birth within the contemplation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended). The averments in the aforesaid paragraphs are indeed fabricated, contrived, made in bad faith and designed to embarrass the 1st petitioner.”

Atiku and the PDP also faulted the APC’s claim that the Independent National Electoral commission (INEC) did not transmit the results of the election electronically by using a server.