Former Nigerian Vice President who is also the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 elections, Atiku Abubakar, on Thursday asked the Independent National Electoral Commission not to wait for “decades” to verify President Bola Tinubu’s allegedly forged documents submitted to it.
Atiku said this at a world press conference in Abuja, two days after his lawyers through a United States’ court obtained the academic records of Tinubu from the Chicago State University (CSU) which showed alleged discrepancies with what the sitting Nigerian president submitted to the INEC before the February election.
Though Atiku’s case had been dismissed at the Presidential Election Tribunal Court, the PDP candidate is hoping to use the alleged forged certificate as a strong case against Tinubu in his appeal to the Supreme Court.
Speaking at the conference, Atiku said, “Gentlemen of the Press, Fellow Citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I consider it important to address and report to you today on issues that define the future of elective government and legitimate leadership in our country.
“Political leadership and active citizenship matter because they are ways through which we all work together to build a country that works for all who live in it. Our country is bigger than any of us, and its standing in the world affects the fate of all who come from or live in it. As leaders, it is our duty to advance the well-being of all our people and of the country.
“For this purpose, my generation worked hard to return the soldiers to the barracks and to defend the right of the people to elect and establish for ourselves a legitimate government. Our elections are established and governed by law and founded on the constitution from which leadership and government in Nigeria alone derive their legitimacy.
“The people look up to us as leaders to respect these rules and, where necessary, to defend them. This is what brings us here.
“Today, we are called upon again as a people to uphold and defend the ground rules of elective government in our country. The constitution prescribes the requirements for those who seek the highest elective office in the land.
“It should not take months or, indeed, decades, for the institutions concerned to be able to do their work in establishing the credibility of any certificates presented by candidates for public office.
“We undertook this journey at great cost and for important reasons. The ground rules for legitimate governance in our country need to be upheld, and the reputation of our country is at stake. That affects everyone, Nigerians everywhere.
“I am a democrat by conviction and a citizen of a country that I love. The issues at stake in this case require us once more to re-dedicate ourselves to both the country and our constitution.
“Now, we entrust these facts to us all as citizens and as leaders of the institutions charged with interpreting our constitution. I should thank the lawyers both in Nigeria and in the United States, who have assisted us in bringing clarity and definitive answers to these issues that appear to have defied our institutions for nearly a quarter of a century. I also want to extend my gratitude to Nigerian citizens and friends of Nigeria both within and beyond the shores of our country for their patience as we have sought to find the facts and establish the truth.”