The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described as “reckless and groundless” claims by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) that its Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, is a Cameroonian.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said in a statement on Sunday in Abuja that the argument was a calculated attempt by the ruling party to trivialize and divert attention from the compelling issue of the criminal rigging of the 2019 presidential election.
“Such diversionary tactic has, however, only helped in further exposing the fact that the APC has no answers to the plethora of overwhelming evidence before the tribunal that the election was won by Atiku Abubakar and the PDP,” he said.
“Whereas Atiku Abubakar’s citizenship by birth, even under our constitution, cannot be contested, it is indeed the biggest irony of the year, that Atiku’s citizenship is being disputed by individuals, whose ancestry has always been a subject of debate.
“These individuals include those who, being not sure of their origins; have no love for Nigeria and even refused to be on the side of our nation at the 1985 summit of the defunct Organization of Africa Unity, OAU, in Addis Ababa.
“Such persons prefer to deploy our national resources for infrastructural development in affiliated places outside the shores of Nigeria, when our country is in dire need of attention.
“The apparent links were further manifested in the participation of aliens in the campaigns of a particular Presidential candidate in Kano.
“Moreover, this claim by APC appears to contain explanations as to why its administration has remained insensitive to the challenge of insurgency, general insecurity and economic travails of Nigerians in the North East, particularly in Adamawa, Yobe, Borno and Taraba states.
“In any case, Nigerians should not despair as the PDP and Atiku Abubakar will not be distracted in the pursuit of our mandate. The PDP has implicit confidence in the competence of our legal team to handle the diversionary antics and technicalities of the APC to unnecessarily overstrain the tribunal and derail the course of justice in the matter,” he said.
Earlier in his reaction, Mr. Atiku Abubakar said that his citizenship as a Nigerian was not in doubt.
Atiku said through his media adviser, Mr. Paul Ibe, that he would not dignify APC with a response and that his lawyers would do the needful in court.
“The position of the APC is so pedestrian and shows such straw-clutching desperation on their part, that I shall not dignify it with an answer. Our lawyers would, of course, do the needful in court.
“But the point I want to draw the attention of Nigerians to is that both the APC and its candidate have by this infantile logic admitted to the fact that they trampled on the will of Nigerians and that their only defence is to attempt an unconstitutional redefinition of the term ‘Nigerian’.
“I am, however, confident in the Nigerian judiciary, as well as in the Nigerian people. I trust that the Tribunal will treat such a claim with the contempt it deserves. We must maintain our fidelity to the rule of law and to our fountain of origin, the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended).” Ibe said in a statement issued on Saturday.
GIK/APA