- Pix above(L-R): Peter Obi, Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar
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The legal team of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has implicated him on his Guinean citizenship, affirming though, that Tinubu’s passport expired in 2020.
The legal team told the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal that his Guinean citizenship expired in 2020, the same year with his Guinean passport, unknown to the oposition.
This is seen as perjury, having told the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in his form EC-9 – application for the presidency – that he never. At all, obtained citizenship of another country.
He reportedly ticked “NO” in response to “Have you voluntarily acquired citizenship of any other country” posed by INEC in the form.
Tinubu made the claim through his lead counsel, Wole Olanipekun (SAN) while asking the tribunal to throw out a petition by the Labour Party (LP) seeking his (Tinubu) removal from office.
According to Tinubu’s counsel, the President’s Guinean passport tendered before the court by the Labour Party’s PW27 expired in 2020, adding that the opposition party’s claim on Tinubu’s dual citizenship is aimed at embarrassing the President.
Part of Tinubu’s claim through his lawyer read: “Lastly, the PW27, tendered Exhibit PBF4 (Guinean passport), which as usual, he claimed to have downloaded from the internet, purportedly representing the data pages of the respondent’s Guinean passport, which ex facie, shows that the passport expired in 2020. It is all a guess work, aimed at embarrassing the respondent.”
For President Bola Tinubu, there is no end to the controversies trailing his past. Last week, social media went abuzz with the dual citizenship allegations against him with his critics claiming that dual citizenship, alone, disqualifies him from the presidency based on Section 137 of the 1999 Constitution.
The fresh controversy started when an independent journalist, David Hundeyin, uploaded images of a Guinean diplomatic passport bearing “Bola Ahmed Tinubu” on his Twitter account. The passport, which also carried Tinubu’s image was said to have been issued in October 2015. It however expired in October 2020.
African Union Ambassador, additionally confirmed to Daily Sun that Tinubu got his controversial Guinean citizenship because the former President of Guinea, Alpha Conde, saw him as a special envoy.
There had been controversies surrounding Tinubu’s age, name, educational background, health status, businesses, hometown and past links with drug trafficking, all of which have not been cleared.
Tinubu’s emergence as President-elect in the February 25 presidential election has been challenged by some of his opponents, including his two main rivals, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, in a battle that would drag up to the Supreme Court in a span over 240 days.
The dual citizenship dimension, which has caused the former governor of Lagos State to trend, has dominated the social media amid the ongoing election petition trial because of potential legal actions over alleged constitutional violations.
With the latest development, Tinubu is suspected to have committed perjury, having told the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in his form EC-9 – application for the presidency – that he never obtained citizenship of another country. He reportedly ticked “NO” in response to “Have you voluntarily acquired citizenship of any other country” posed by INEC in the form.
He also appended his signature on the form swearing that the information given on the form was “correct, true and to the best of my knowledge.” While it may not amount to constitutional violations that Tinubu, who was born in Nigeria, carries dual nationality, he is expected to fight to extricate himself of perjury accusations.
The State Online reports that Tinubu had warned members of the presidential elections tribunal that removing him as president for not scoring 25% of votes in the FCT could lead to a breakdown of law and order in Nigeria.
He also told the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) that the two petitions filed by candidates of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi and his counterpart of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, seeking the nullification of his victory declaration at the February 25, presidential election are not only novel but not familiar with the country’s electoral laws.
Tinubu’s submissions were contained in his final written address against the two petitions pending at the PEPC. There is, indeed, no limit to the controversies trailing the president in his quest to remain His Excellency, Commander-in Chief of the nation’s Armed Forces./SHARE THIS
