UPDATED: Malami says he didn’t file suit challenging Atiku’s citizenship
- The minister of justice, Abubakar Malami, explains the circumstances surrounding a suit challenging the eligibility of Atiku Abubakar to contest for presidency
- Malami is displeased about fresh reports linking him to the case
- The minister warns of the consequence of reporting such stories
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The attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice, Abubakar Malami, has denied instituting a suit challenging the citizenship of the former vice president of Nigeria Atiku Abubakar.
According to Premium Times, Malami made the denial in a statement on Wednesday, April 7, by Umar Gwandu, his spokesperson.
He said:
“I never filed any case before any court in the country challenging the citizenship of the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
Source: UGC
Malami's statement was in reaction to reports that he had told an Abuja court that a former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, is unfit to contest for president under the Nigerian constitution.
The report claimed Malami’s arguments were in support of the suit filed before the Federal High Court, Abuja by the Incorporated Trustees of Egalitarian Mission for Africa (EMA), challenging Atiku eligibility to contest for the high office.
EMA alleged that from the circumstances surrounding his birth, the former vice president cannot contest for the top office because he is not a citizen of Nigeria, The Nation reported.
But the minister of justice stated that the matter in contention was part of the 2019 pre-election matters instituted by the civil society organisation in suit no: FHC/ABJ/CS/177/2019.
Vanguard reported that Malami noted that the issue had already been widely reported by the media since April 2019.
He said:
“It is unfortunate that stale news stories capable of causing confusion are repackaged and presented to the general public as current news.
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Meanwhile, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dan Orbih, has played down the chances of the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Orbih who serves as the national vice chairman of the PDP in the south-south zone argued that the APC does not have any candidate capable of winning the coming presidential election.
He said the ruling party is aware that it lacks a candidate and is now looking outside of its fold for a worthy candidate to represent it in the 2023 presidential election, The Nation reported.
Source: Legit.ng
