The leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has reacted to claims by the All Progressives Congress (APC) that presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is a Cameroonian who was not qualified to contest for the 2019 presidential election.
Kanu was the first to make the claim that Atiku was born in a part of Adamawa State that used to be part of Northern Cameroon.
Replying to Atiku’s election petition challenging Buhari’s victory in the February 23 polls, APC claimed through its counsel, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), that Atiku was born on November 25, 1946 in Jada, Adamawa, in Northern Cameroon and was therefore a citizen of Cameroon and not a Nigerian by birth.
The party said Atiku was therefore not qualified to contest for the presidency of Nigeria.
However, in a broadcast on Radio Biafra, Kanu said his intention was not to insinuate that Atiku is not a Nigerian.
He said he used the example of “Atiku’s citizenship of Nigeria, via a referendum”, to buttress his point about the need for a referendum on Biafra.
The IPOB leader said, “When I first raised this issue, which incidentally has been ignored by all arms of government including INEC whose duty it is to ensure that candidates meet all stipulated constitutional requirements, it was not to insinuate or imply that Atiku is not a Nigerian, but rather to highlight the very constitutionally critical point at the heart of IPOB agitation for Biafra independence; which is that asking for a referendum is never a crime in any law known to man.
“However, the weak and porous argument Atiku’s defence team is making in response to this line of attack by APC is to say that, ‘it is ludicrous to allege that a man who became Nigeria’s vice-president, who has lived, invested and paid tax in the country for years is not a citizen.
“This is a wholly unnecessary digression that failed to address the constitutional question of place of birth as key qualification for anybody seeking to become the president of Nigeria. That Atiku was the Vice President is not the issue at hand but rather his suitability as defined by the constitution of Nigeria.”
Kanu said that APC’s use of his claim in court against Atiku showed that he always spoke the truth on Radio Biafra.
According to him, “It may appear outlandish and unbelievable at first, but eventually history always vindicate me. It is now over the Atiku’s team to unleash what they have against Jubril,” he said.
“I will offer free legal advice to Atiku live on air in the hope that they will use it because it is obvious Atiku won the election and APC are deploying all instruments of coercion at the disposal of the Nigerian state to deny him his mandate. Between Atiku and the man occupying Aso Rock, only Atiku is a Nigerian, the other is Sudanese.”
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