Politics

2023: Lawyer Asks Court To Disqualify Atiku From Presidential Race

Published

4 years ago

June 1, 2022

An Abuja-based lawyer, Johnmary Jideobi, has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to disqualify Atiku Abubakar from vying for the 2023 presidential election.

With the fresh suit, Mr Abubakar, who emerged the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) last Saturday, has one more legal hurdle to cross in his race to be Nigeria’s president.

But in February this year, a similar case challenging Mr Abubakar’s Nigerian citizenship was struck out by a federal judge – Inyang Ekwo.

Mr Ekwo cautioned the plaintiff – incorporated trustees of the Egalitarian Mission for Africa – a nongovernmental organisation – to desist from filing frivolous suits aimed at harassing politically exposed Nigerians.

The judge held that the incorporated trustees lacked the right to institute the legal action, describing them as “busy body and meddlesome interlopers.”

Nigeria’s Supreme Court had also in 2019 dismissed a similar application by the APC in the aftermath of the 2019 presidential election.

Fresh suit
In the new suit, the plaintiff challenges Mr Abubakar’s Nigerian citizenship, despite serving as Nigeria’s vice president from 1999 to 2007.

According to court filings, Mr Jideobi mentioned Mr Abubakar, the PDP, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) as defendants.

He argued that Mr Abubakar is not constitutionally qualified to contest in the presidential election. He claimed that Mr Abubakar is not a Nigerian citizen by birth as required under the Nigerian constitution.

Mr Jideobi contends that Mr Abubakar “acquired his citizenship of Nigeria by virtue of the 1961 plebiscite which integrated some people of Northern Cameroon into Nigeria as new citizens of Nigeria.

The plaintiff claimed that, “Allowing the first defendant (Mr Abubakar) to a participant in the 2023 presidential election as the candidate” of the PDP would amount to a grave desecration of the otherwise sacrosanct and inviolable provisions of Sections 1(1) & (2), 25 and 131(a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

“The third defendant (INEC) is under a bounden duty to ensure that the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall not be governed, nor shall any persons or group of persons take control of the government of Nigeria or any part thereof except in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.”

Prayers
Mr Jideobi is asking the court for a “declaration that by virtue of Sections 1(1) & (2), 25 and 131(a) of the Constitution, it is only a Nigerian citizen by birth that is constitutionally eligible to contest for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

He further seeks a “declaration that given the circumstances of the birth of the first defendant (Atiku), he is not constitutionally qualified to stand for election into the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

The plaintiff seeks an “order of the court disqualifying the first defendant – Atiku Abubakar – from contesting for election to the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

He also begged the court to declare that the “PDP does not have a candidate for the office of the president in the 2023 presidential election to be organised by the third defendant.”

He requested for “An order of perpetual injunction restraining the first defendant from contesting for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or occupying the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by whatever means and throughout his lifetime.

“An order of perpetual injunction restraining the second defendant from fielding or presenting the first defendant as its candidate for the 2023 presidential election in Nigeria for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“An order of perpetual injunction restraining the third defendant from accepting and or publishing the name of the first defendant as a candidate of the second defendant for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the forthcoming 2023 presidential election.”

This suit comes a couple of days after Mr Abubakar became the standard bearer of Nigeria’s main opposition party — the PDP — at a primary election held in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.

Meanwhile, no date has been fixed for the hearing of the case.

PREMIUM TIMES.

Politics

Obasanjo, Atiku, Obi Meet In Abuja

Published

2 days ago

January 10, 2026

Editor

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi met in Abuja on Saturday.

The trio were among prominent political figures who attended the Tambuwal Colloquium, titled “Leadership, Service and Statesmanship at 60,” held at the New Event Hall of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, in honour of the 60th birthday of former Sokoto State Governor and Senator, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.

Atiku confirmed his presence at the event in a post on his X handle, stating that he had arrived at the venue for the colloquium organised to mark Tambuwal’s milestone birthday.

The former vice president also shared images of himself, Obasanjo and Obi at the event.

The event attracted political leaders, statesmen and stakeholders from across the country.

Politics

PANDEF Wades Into Rivers Crisis, Sets Up Seven-member Mediation Team

Published

2 days ago

January 10, 2026

Editor

The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has intervened in the political crisis in Rivers State, calling on all actors to sheathe their swords and embrace peace in the interest of the development of the state and the region in general.

Expressing concern that the political disagreement involving the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Mr Nyesom Wike, Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the State House of Assembly might degenerate to total lawlessness, the Board and National Executive Committee of PANDEF set up a seven-member reconciliation team to resolve the issues.

The team, which is headed by a former Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Kanu Agabi, has six other members.

They are Senator Obende Domingo (Vice Chairman); Chief Essien Nduese; Dr Timiebi Koripamo-Agari; Chief Mike Ejiofor; Mrs Nella Rabana-Andem, SAN; and Prince Godwin Okotie, the Deputy National Secretary of PANDEF, who will serve as the secretary of the team.

Politics

Wike: Why Removing Fubara Will Be Difficult – Ex-Commissioner

Published

3 days ago

January 9, 2026

Editor

A former Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Austin Tam-George, has said that attempts to impeach Governor Siminalayi Fubara would be difficult to sustain, citing what he described as the governor’s performance record and the lack of concrete allegations against him.

Tam-George made the remarks on Thursday while speaking on Prime Time on Arise Television, arguing that the impeachment process being initiated against Fubara was to scuttle his chance for a second term.

According to him, Governor Fubara has continued to place the needs of the people at the centre of his administration, with visible interventions in rural development, housing, education and healthcare.

He said this, in his view, has made it difficult for opponents to justify moves to remove the governor from office.

Tam-George also called on the All Progressives Congress, APC, to intervene, arguing that the party should not allow what he described as the humiliation of a sitting governor.

He said: “Well, all I think he needs to do is to do exactly what he’s been doing from the beginning, which is to place the people at the center of gravity of his administration, prioritize the needs of the people, so that the people can see the direct impact of government action in their lives.

“And that’s exactly what he’s doing in terms of rural development, in terms of housing sector transformation, which I mentioned that he is doing the same in education sector and in health.

“So if he continues, if he persists in placing the people’s need at the center of focus of his administration, there is no way they are going to be able to justify this kind of shenanigans.

“Because, if you look very carefully at the so called articles of impeachment, you will see that there is no specificity in terms of any infraction by the governor or his deputy.

“What they are trying to do is to make sure they scuttle the administration so that the governor doesn’t then get to the point where he will be seeking a second term.

“Let me be clear, just two days ago, Nyesom Wike was at one of the local governments, and he made it clear in a moment of epiphany, he made it clear that, look, if Governor Fubara were to get a second term in office, it will amount to his own political burial.

“So all of these things that we are seeing the so called impeachment proceedings they’ve initiated, it’s actually an effort to try to scuttle the prospects of the governor coming for a second term, and I don’t see how they will succeed.

“If you look at the so called articles of impeachment, as I said, they lack specificity in terms of the kind of infraction that they allege that the governor has committed. He has done nothing wrong, and they will see how the process will play out.

“My sense, and in fact, if I were to advise the governor, my sense is that he should just maintain the people, retain the people at the center of gravity of his administration, meet their needs, run a transparent administration as he always done, and then the truth will come out, and he will be able to defend the administration.

“I think the the governing APC should also step in because they can’t possibly allow the governor of the office with probably one of the best performance records in the country to be humiliated by some of these members of the assembly.”