The People’s Democratic Party(PDP) candidate in the Febraury 23 presidential election , Atiku Abubakar, has dismissed the report by All Progressives Congress(APC) that he is not a Nigerian.
Atiku said he was born on November 25, 1946, in Jada, Adamawa State, therefore he was a Nigerian.
The APC had alleged that as of November 25, 1946, when Atiku was born, Jada, was part of Northern Cameroon.
But Atiku insisted that he was a Nigerian citizen, adding that his parents were also Nigerians by birth.
He said while his father, Garba Atiku Abdulkadir, hailed from Wumo in the present-day Sokoto State, his mother, Aisha Kande, hailed from Dutse, now Jigawa State.
Below is his full submission in response to APCâs argument about his Nigerian origin:
In further response to paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 of the 3rd Respondentâs Reply, the Petitioners state as follows:
The 1st Petitioner (Abubakar) was born on 25th November 1946 in Jada, Adamawa State by Nigerian Parents and he is therefore a citizen of Nigeria by Birth.
The 1st Petitionerâs father, Garba Atiku Abdulkadir was a Nigerian by Birth who hailed from Wumo in present day Sokoto State while the mother, Aisha Kande was also a Nigerian who hailed from Dutse in present day Jigawa State.
The parents of the 1st Petitioner are both Fulani, a community/tribe indigenous to Nigeria. The birth of the 1st Petitioner in Jada, in present day Adamawa State of Nigeria was occasioned by the movement of his paternal grandfather called Atiku who was an itinerant trader, from Wumo in present day Sokoto State to Jada in the company of his friend, Ardo Usman.
That in Jada, Atiku, the grandfather of the 1st Petitioner gave birth to Garba who in tum gave birth to the 1st Petitioner and named him after his own father Atiku.
The 1st Petitionerâs mother, Aisha Kande was the grand-daughter of Inuwa Dutse who came to Jada as an itinerant trader too from Dutse in present day JigawaState.
That all averments concerning Germany, British Cameroons, League of Nations and Plebiscite are false and misleading in relation to the 1st Petitioner and therefore completely irrelevant more so that the 1st Petitioner is a Nigerian by birth within the contemplation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
viii. The averments in the aforesaid paragraphs are indeed fabricated, contrived, made in bad faith and designed to embarrass the 1st Petitioner.
In response to paragraph 7 of the 3rd Respondentâs (APC) Reply, the Petitioners aver that the votes of the 1st Petitioner in the Election of 23rd February, 2019 to the office of the President are not wasted votes, and the 1st Petitioner being a qualified candidate in the said Election indeed secured majority of lawful votes over and above the votes of the 2nd Respondent.
In further reaction to Paragraph 7 of the 3rd Respondent Reply, the Petitioners hereby plead and contend that at all times material the 1st Petitioner has been a Nigerian by birth and has participated in the following career and political activities and has also received the following awards and honours:
. the 1st Petitioner was a civil servant in the Nigerian Customs Service for over 20 years and retired as a Deputy Director.
. the 1st Petitioner has been a Nigerian politician for about 30 years and in 1992 he contested in the Presidential Primaries under the platform of then Social Democratic Party (SDP) alongside the late Chief M.K.O Abiola and Ambassador Baba GanaKingibe.
. the 1st Petitioner contested for and won the 1999 Gubernatorial election in Adamawa State under the platform of the 2nd Petitioner.
. the Former President Olusegun Obasanjo GCFR and the 1st Petitioner contested for and won the 1999 and 2003 Presidential Elections, respectively as President and Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the 2nd Petitioner.
. the 1st Petitioner is the recipient of the National Honour of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger(GCON).
. the 1st Petitioner was the traditional title holder of Turakin Adamawa from 1982 to 2017 when he was elevated to WazirinAdamawa.
