…Says Having Dual Citizenship Doesn’t Stop Him From Becoming President

The legal team of the President Bola Tinubu has told the Presidential Election Petition Court sitting in Abuja that the flagbearer of the People’s Democratic party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, tendered an alleged expired Guinean passport as exhibit to back the claim that Tinubu holds dual citizenship in a bid to embarrassing him and invalidate his electoral victory.

Tinubu’s team led by Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, said even if a Nigerian holds dual citizenship, the laws of the land do not stop such person from vying for the office of President.

He urged the PEPC in its final written address to not just dismiss Atiku’s petition against his election, but also discountenance all the documents tendered by Atiku allegedly relating to his academic, career and diplomatic records.

THE WHISTLER earlier reported that the PDP legal team led by Chris Uche SAN had on June 25 presented its 27th witness, Barrister Mike Enahoro Ebah (PW27), to prove that Tinubu was a dual citizen of Nigeria and Guinea prior to the polls, among other allegations.

Some of the documents Atiku tendered include Tinubu’s certificate of service from Mobil Nigeria Plc, alleged extract of his Guinean passport as well as particulars submitted to INEC when he ran as Lagos state governor.

But giving a final response about the tendered passport (extract), Olanipekun argued that the Guinean passport which the PDP witness claimed to have downloaded from the internet, purportedly representing the data page of the Tinubu’s Guinean passport, shows that the passport expired in 2020.

“It is all a guesswork, aimed at embarrassing the respondent (Tinubu),” he stated.

He urged the court to hold that an expired document does not command any probative value in the eyes of the law.

Olanipekun did not concede that Tinubu holds a dual citizenship.

But he added that even if his client holds dual citizenship, the 1999 constitution does not prevent him from seeking to occupy the number one office in the country.

“Assuming without conceding that the respondent was ever issued that passport, it is our further submission that facts relating to citizenship of a foreign country are rooted in the laws of that country, which have to be proved in Nigeria.

“It is submitted further, that even if the respondent has a dual citizenship, which is not conceded, the Constitution does not preclude him from contesting the office of President of Nigeria,” he stated.

On Tinubu’s academic records in US, Olanipekun contended that the PDP witness tendered documents that were not certified by the school, even though, Enahoro had earlier told the court that the letter from the school meant there was no need for certification.

“On the contrary, the respondent (Tinubu) who has no burden placed on him, went all out to obtain certified true copies of all his educational records from the Chicago State University, including his University Degree certificate and a public notice issued and signed by the Registrar of the University that he distinctively passed through its portals,” the learned silk added.