Tribunal Dismisses Buhari’s Motion That Atiku Is Allegedly A Cameroonian By Birth

The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) has stuck out a motion by President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) on the nationality of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

The APC had filed a motion, insisting that Atiku was not qualified to contest the last presidential election on the ground that he is allegedly a Cameroonian by birth.

However, during its ruling on Wednesday, September 11, 2019, Justice Mohammed Garba-led said that the court lacks the power to determine the qualification of a petitioner in an election dispute.

Justice Garba noted that Buhari and his party should have filed a cross-petition, if they had wanted to challenge the qualification of Atiku to contest the election.

The court further stated that its powers were to determine whether a person elected to the office of the President was validly elected and not to query the qualification of the petitioners to have contested the election, whose outcome was being queried.