Tribunal dismisses Atiku’s claims of dual citizenship, drug conviction against Tinubu

Tribunal dismisses Atiku’s claims of dual citizenship, drug conviction against Tinubu

The Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC) has dismissed the allegations made by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, concerning dual citizenship and a drug conviction against President Bola Tinubu.

In a judgment regarding the objections raised by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Tinubu regarding their opponent’s qualifications to contest the presidential election held on February 25, Justice Moses Ugo ruled that these allegations were new issues.

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He upheld the objections raised by the APC and Tinubu, arguing that Atiku and the PDP could not introduce new issues that were not previously mentioned in their petition related to non-qualification.

In response to Tinubu’s challenge, Atiku had claimed that he was constitutionally ineligible to run for the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria due to his forfeiture of $460,000 as part of a compromise agreement for a narcotics-related crime (proceeds of crime) in the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division.

Furthermore, Atiku alleged that Tinubu had failed to disclose in his form EC9 that he held dual citizenship of Nigeria and Guinea, having voluntarily acquired citizenship in the Republic of Guinea.