Why APC took Atiku citizenship case to Tribunal – Keyamo

Festus Keyamo, the Spokesman for the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign council has revealed why the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, filed a motion that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, is not a Nigerian.

The APC had on Friday filed a motion at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja by its lead counsel, Lateef Fagbemi faulting the candidacy of Atiku in the election, claiming that Atiku is a Cameroonian and not a Nigerian citizen.

APC, hence stated that the former Vice President’s petition against President Muhammadu Buhari, its own candidate, should be dismissed for lacking in merit.

Keyamo, speaking on Channels Tv on a Sunday night said APC’s decision to test the matter in court was a collective decision reached by more than 18 senior advocates representing the President and the APC at the Election Petition Tribunal.

According to him, the fact that Atiku served as a vice president for eight years does not make him a Nigerian, adding that, “That is irrelevant.”

Keyamo, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, however, noted that the matter was already in court and as a senior member of the bar, he cannot go into details about it.

He said: “Did you have access to security reports then; did the court look at that issue at that time? We are talking of qualifications to be President of Nigeria, not qualifications to be a Customs officer

“The matter has never been tested in court before does not provide a platform for someone to keep doing something that is wrong

“The issue of citizenship was just one of the six grounds raised to challenge the petition filed by the PDP at the Tribunal.”

He further, advised “those who are informed” to go and read thoroughly Section 131 in conjunction with Section 25 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.