Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Justice Minister Abubakar Malami has said he did not file any suit challenging the Nigerian citizenship of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
A statement on Wednesday in Abuja by his spokesman, Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, said the AGF “has never filed any case before any court in the country challenging the citizenship of the former Vice-President Abubakar”.
The statement was in reaction to reports of the AGF’s position in a suit filed against Atiku by a group, the Incorporated Trustees of Egalitarian Mission for Africa, before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The suit, though filed before the last presidential election, has not been heard and determined. It was last mentioned on March 15, 2021, during which Justice Inyang Ekwo, before whom the case is pending, adjourned till May 4, 2021 for hearing.
The statement by the AGF’s spokesman said: “…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 a suit in respect of which Alhaji Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Office of the AGF were co-defendants.
“The issue had already been widely reported by the media since April 2019. It is unfortunate that stale news stories capable of causing confusion are repackaged and presented to the public as current news.”
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