With barely one week
to the 2019 presidential election, the eligibility of former Vice-President of
Nigeria and the People,s Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Alhaji
Atiku Abubakar has again come to the frontburner.
A very close source
and ally to Constitutional Lawyer and Secretary of Forward With Buhari
independent campaign team, Dr. Kayode Ajulo reveals the lawyer has concluded
plans to go to court to challenge the legibility of Atiku to contest.
He said this because
of the revelation that Atiku is not fit to contest the presidential election,
as he is not a Nigerian citizen by birth.
Quoting relevant laws,
our source says Atiku Abukakar is not fit to contest.
” Atiku is from
Jada town in Adamawa State of Nigeria. However, Jada used to be in Ganye Local
Government Area in Adamawa. Ganye is regarded as the mother of the whole Chamba
tribe. Jada is a town and Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Nigeria. Jada
as a Local Government Area was created from Ganye Local Government Area of
Adamawa state, Nigeria.
“Ganye, however,
was never part of Nigeria legally until the February 1961 plebiscite where the
people of the then Northern Cameroon voted to join Nigeria. The area had been
entrusted to Britain by a League of Nations mandate in 1919 and later as Trust
Territory by the United Nations in 1946.
“With the defeat
of Germany in World War I, Kamerun became a League of Nations mandate territory
and was split into French Cameroons and British Cameroons in 1919. While France
integrated the economy of their part of Cameroon with that of France, the
British administered theirs from neighboring Nigeria, making Atiku’s Jada a
British franchise.
“A plebiscite was
held in British Cameroons to determine whether the people preferred to stay in
Cameroon or align with Nigeria. While Northern Cameroon preferred a union with
Nigeria, Southern Cameroon chose alignment with their mother country,” he
said.
He said further that:
“On June 1, 1961, Northern Cameroon became part of Nigeria, and on October
1, 1961, the Southern territory dissolved into Cameroon.
“Ganye, which
incorporates Atiku’s birthplace of Jada was the headquarters of British
Cameroons, but following the plebiscite, joined Nigeria. It is instructive to
note that when Atiku was on November 25, 1946 born to a trader and farmer Garba
Abubakar, Jada village and other parts of Chamba land in the then Northern
Cameroon were still known as British Cameroons.
“It is
interesting to also note that none of Atiku’s parents or grandparents was born
in Nigeria. Atiku’s ancestral origin is deeply rooted in the then Northern
Cameroon.”
He stressed further
that since the Nigerian constitution clearly states that only a citizen
qualifies to contest for any election.
Quoting Section 25 of
the Constitution which states that (1) The following persons are citizens of
Nigeria by birth, namely- (a) Every person born in Nigeria before the date of
independence either of whose parents or any of whose grandparents belongs or belonged
to a community indigenous to Nigeria. Provided that a person shall not become a
citizen of Nigeria by virtue of this section if neither of his parents nor any
of his grandparents was born in Nigeria.
(b) Every person born
in Nigeria after the date of Independence either of whose parents or any of
whose grandparents is a citizen of Nigeria; and (c) Every person born outside
Nigeria either of whose parents is a citizen of Nigeria.
“(2)
In this section, “the date of independence” means the 1st day of October
1960.”
“As it can be
gleaned from the facts already supplied herein, Ganye which incorporates
Atiku’s birthplace of Jada was the headquarters of British Cameroons, but it
joined Nigeria following the plebiscite.”
According to Ajulo,
the provision of Subsection 1(c) cannot still avail Atiku because there are two
conditions precedent that must be satisfied, viz: 1) he must be born outside
Nigeria; and any of his parents must be Nigerian citizen.
Quoting Dr Ajulo, our
source said “Atiku was born outside Nigeria (the then Northern Cameroon)
and none of his parents was a Nigerian citizen.
He therefore submitted
that the Constitution is supreme and its provisions have binding force on all
authorities and persons throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“This informs the
reasons why we are approaching the law court to enforce this,” he said.
