The Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, on Wednesday disclosed that the suit filed against the citizenship of former Vice-Presdient Atiku Abubakar was in 2019.
The Minister further stated that the suit was filed by a civil society organisation, the Incorporated Trustees of Egalitarian Mission for Africa.
Malami in a statement released through his spokesman, Umar Gwandu, titled, ‘I didn’t file suit against Atiku’s Citizenship – Malami’
The statement read in part, “Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, has not instituted legal action on the citizenship or otherwise of the former Vice-President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.”
“Malami has never filled any case before any court in the country challenging the citizenship of the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.”
“The matter in contention was part of the 2019 pre-election matters instituted by a civil society organisation – the Incorporated Trustees of Egalitarian Mission for Africa in suit no: FHC/ABJ/CS/177/201, in respect of which Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Peoples Democratic Party Independent National Electoral Commission and the Office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation was made a co-defendant.”
The AGF added that the suit had already been widely reported by newsmen since April, 2019.
“It is unfortunate that stale news stories capable of causing confusion are repackaged and presented to the general public as current news.”
The AGF had in his response to the suit, claimed that Atiku was not a natural born citizen of Nigeria but a Cameroonian.
He said the former Vice-President was born in Jada in the 1940s at a time the town was still part of Cameroon.
